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Ben Roethlisberger Calls Out George Pickens: ‘You Can’t Hurt Your Team Like That’
Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not hold back when talking about wide receiver George Pickens' costly penalties.
PITTSBURGH — Following the Steelers’ 44-38 victory over the Bengals in Week 13, head coach Mike Tomlin called out wide receiver George Pickens, who was penalized twice for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“He’s just got to grow up, man,” Tomlin said. “It’s an emotional game. These divisional games are big. He’s got a target on his back because he’s George. He understands that, but he’s got to grow up. He’s got to grow up in a hurry.”
The Steelers were still able to escape Cincinnati with a win, but Pickens’ unnecessary penalties are starting to become a concerning trend.
Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger joined the conversation this week on the latest episode of “Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger” and he did not hold back on Pickens.
“It was like a, ‘Hey listen, c’mon now,'” Roethlisberger said. “I don’t know that I remember him [Tomlin] doing that to a receiver in a long time, like a number one, a dude like that. I thought that was big by him to do that. I think it needed to be done. You can’t hurt your team like that. When you start getting to the postseason, every little penalty, all those things are going to hurt you. So for Coach T. to come out and say that and make a big deal about it, I thought that was well done and well deserved.”
Pickens is lucky he didn’t get disqualified from the game. In most cases, two unsportsmanlike penalties would result in the player being disqualified, but that wasn’t the case last Sunday.
“The rule of two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls for disqualification really applies to taunting-type acts directed towards an opponent,” referee Shawn Hochuli said. “The first of those fouls was of that nature — his first in the first half was a taunt for throwing the ball at the player. On the second, however, it was not directed at an opponent and so it’t not considered a taunt.”
Unfortunately, the Steelers must continue dealing with Pickens as he’s still the undoubted No. 1 wide receiver with a team-leading 55 catches for 850 yards on the season.
However, Pickens’ future in Pittsburgh is now very up in the air as next season is the final year of his rookie deal and he’ll likely want to get paid this offseason.
RELATED: Is George Pickens Costing Himself a Contract? | Steelers Morning Rush
It remains to be seen whether the Steelers will give him that second contract, but they’re hoping to keep him on his best behavior the rest of the year, nonetheless.
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