PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens is under plenty of heat after a tough performance and some concerning behavior during the team’s Week 5 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
During the game, Pickens wore eye black with explicit writing and was later caught in two heated moments. The first was when he slammed his helmet off of the ground on the sideline and the second was after a play, when Pickens pulled a Cowboys defender down by his facemask.
While head coach Mike Tomlin was not aware of the eye black, he did acknowledge during his weekly press conference that he addressed Pickens’s behavior during the game.
“It’s certainly things that I’m open to addressing and will and do,” Tomlin said. “I just don’t detail them in settings like this, because it’s business between he and I in terms of his growth and development as a player and as a man. I just don’t think it aids that growth into the development to address it in open settings such as this. Regarding his behavior, I am aware of that, and obviously that has been and will continue to be addressed. I wasn’t aware of the messaging and so, you know, I’m just giving you a knee-jerk response to that.”
Pickens was asked about the issues displayed during the game, but gave no remorse in his actions. About the eye black, he said he was unaware of the NFL’s uniform policy, prohibiting words on a player’s eye black.
“Never seen it before,” Pickens said, referring to the uniform policy.
“It’s just eye black,” he also said.
In terms of his frustrations and overcoming difficult moments in a game, Pickens said most of the issues stem from the referees and their calls during a game.
“When it’s third down, you’ve got to convert,” Pickens said. “I bet the fans were mad as well.”
“I wouldn’t really say that. It’s all on the refs. That should show you where the refs are this season,” Pickens later added.
While some believe this behavior could be the cause of Pickens’s limited snap count during the game, there may be prior reasons. According to reports from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pickens has “shown up late for work” on multiple occasions this season, which may have led to Tomlin disciplining the wideout.
Where this goes from here is yet to be known. As of now, Pickens remains a big element of the Steelers’ offense and while behavioral issues have surrounding him for two seasons now, there’s no indication his role will change.
