Fear of injury was the reason George Pickens didn’t finish his block Saturday when running back Jaylen Warren was bearing down on the goal line in the first quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game at Indianapolis.
Warren was stopped short of the end zone. Although the Steelers eventually scored a touchdown, Pickens has been scrutinized — and criticized — for his lack of effort.
“I was trying to prevent a Tank Dell situation,” Pickens said Tuesday after practice at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
Dell is the talented Houston Texans receiver who suffered a season-ending injury in early December when he fractured his fibula. It happened when he got rolled up while blocking on the end of a 3-yard touchdown run by Dameon Pierce.
“I didn’t want to get injured,” Pickens said. “When you stay in and block somebody, you can get run on very easily.”
Pickens said the criticism for his apparent lack of effort on the Warren run stems from the media coverage of his performance.
“They don’t play football,” he said. “They do what you all do.”
Related
• Steelers offense professes ‘full confidence’ in quarterback Mason Rudolph
• Tim Benz: Making Mason Rudolph the Steelers’ starter already helped Mike Tomlin
• Mike Tomlin sees ‘obvious room for improvement’ in Steelers WR George Pickens
The incident in Indianapolis came days after coach Mike Tomlin said that the frustration the second-year wide receiver showed in games was not “solution-oriented.” Tomlin then said he had a “great meeting” with Pickens.
Asked about the meeting, Pickens denied it took place. A public relations representative later clarified that Pickens was confused about the time element of the meeting.
Questions about Pickens’ conduct on the field arose during his college career at Georgia, and it is believed that is one reason — along with an ACL tear in March 2021 — that caused Pickens to slip to the second round of the 2022 draft.
Pickens believes the media is the reason he’s having to defend himself.
“I feel like the reason I would be still fighting it is because of a lot guys not playing football,” he said. “It’s guys having an opinion.”
Pickens said it is hypocritical of the media to question his blocking when he was lauded for that aspect of his game last season.
“Now, they want to say differently,” he said. “Look at the routes this year, the yardage, the catch radius, the run after catch, a lot of stuff,” where he has grown as a player.
Pickens also indicated he is unfairly being singled out for voicing his frustrations with the way he’s being used in the Steelers offense.
“Everybody is mad when you lose,” he said. “A lot of media guys want to say it’s my frustrations, but it’s losing. I’m pretty sure everyone is mad, not just me.”
Pickens has 52 catches for 814 yards and three touchdowns, numbers that mirror the production from his rookie season. On the other hand, he has exceeded 50 yards receiving just twice in the past eight games, and he has gone seven games without scoring a touchdown.
Tomlin hasn’t said whether Pickens will be disciplined or benched for his actions. Earlier in the season, when Pickens left the field rather than celebrate a Diontae Johnson touchdown, he was not part of pre-game introductions the following week but remained in the lineup.
“It’s my job and everybody’s job to rally around a guy like that, George specifically,” Johnson said. “Just to keep his spirits up, keep his head in the game so when the ball comes his way, he’s able to make a play. That’s just part of the game — emotions. It’s tough, emotions are part of the game, but I don’t want to sit here and just speak like George is the problem with the offense. That’s not the case.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
