George Pickens is sick and tired of being sick and tired. Yes, that is a reference to The White Tie Affair.
Pickens, the second-year pass-catcher out of Georgia, is frustrated with the consistent struggles of the Steelers offense. Pittsburgh somehow has sevens wins this season despite its ineptitude, but it ranks alongside Las Vegas, Carolina and both New York Teams in terms of yards per game. The same goes for points per game.
It has been ugly. Very, very ugly.
Pickens is fed up, which was abundantly clear during a 17-point loss to Indianapolis on Saturday.
Pickens showed absolutely zero effort as a run blocker during the first quarter. Wide receivers rarely block on the outside in today’s NFL. That does not excuse the second round pick’s embarrassing attempt, or lack thereof. Had he done anything — literally anything — to try and get in front of the Colts defender, Jaylen Warren would have scored.
Later, while trying to mount a comeback, Mitch Trubisky overthrew George Pickens over the middle. The pass was picked off.
Pickens turned back around and barely chased after the play.
Even though Pickens has every right to feel frustrated, his effort is an issue. Head coach Mike Tomlin sees it too and tried to address his extremely talented wide receiver during the week.
He and I had a great meeting this week […]
He needs to understand it is an agenda. It is a game plan. It is something that’s constructed to break him and the unit down. And that’s why it’s so important that he manages the frustration component of it.
— Mike Tomlin
He dealt with Antonio Brown in the past, so this is nothing new.
(Antonio Brown) saw a lot of it. I used to say to AB, “Man, the second quarter is a big quarter.” Because in the first quarter of the game, people are not going to allow him, a known entity, to be significant.
It’s a tactic that’s employed often when you’re talking about significant players, or guys with unique talent in one-on-one circumstances. You can do that for a block of time, but it is very difficult to keep it up over the course of 60 minutes.
And that’s the educational component that you talk to a player about. You let frustration win, then you’re not there for the final 15 minutes that might be the significant ones where you catch 3 for 90 yards and a touchdown.
— Mike Tomlin
Tomlin made those comments prior to the game against Indianapolis. Perhaps he will call Pickens back into his office this week, because the message from their first conversation clearly didn’t stick.
The lack of effort on Saturday was unacceptable.
Even if Pickens is underutilized, even if Pittsburgh’s offense is completely incompetent, to simply stand there while your running back charges toward the end zone with just one man to beat is not okay.