Steelers WR George Pickens Gets in Fight with Browns CB after Loss

CLEVELAND — Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens was involved in a fight with Cleveland Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II in the end zone after the final whistle in Thursday night’s 24-19 loss.

A fan at Huntington Bank Field recorded the entire scene. Pickens and Newsome were going back and forth on the Hail Mary play and then got into a skirmish near the front row.

The fight wasn’t captured during the broadcast, but Pickens was seen being held back by security near the stands.

Pickens received a hefty $16,883 fine for unnecessary roughness (facemask) on Washington Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste in the fourth quarter of the Steelers’ Week 10 win. It was the third time this year that Pickens has been fined by the league. Pickens was fined twice for a total of $20,463 in the Week 5 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. He was fined $10,231 by the NFL for an explicit eye black message and docked $10,230 for throwing Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis down by his facemask at the conclusion of the game. Pickens was reportedly fined over $200,000 by the team and league last year.

During his weekly Tuesday press conference, Tomlin was asked about Pickens pulling Lewis down by his facemask at the end of the game, but declined to address it publicly.

Tomlin said he doesn’t detail those conversations in press conferences, but said he believes Pickens has “certainly gotten better” about handling his emotions since joining the Steelers. It appears that message hasn’t registered yet.

It will not be surprising if Pickens receives another fine from the league for his latest action.

When asked about what happened at the end of the game, Pickens simply said “Nothing.” Pickens feels like the weather played a big part in the loss and the Browns are not a good team at all. Pickens was held to four receptions for 48 yards (12.0 average) in the game.

As for Newsome, he called Pickens a “fake tough guy” on X following the game.

The Steelers play the Browns at Acrisure Stadium on Dec. 8. Pickens vs. Newsome Part II should be interesting.

Alan Saunders provided reporting from Cleveland.