George Pickens Torches Media Criticism: ‘They Don’t Play Football’

PITTSBURGH — George Pickens is fed up with the media, and called them out for criticizing his effort and play throughout the season. He said that because none of the people criticizing him play football, he is not bothered by it, but that is why he has to keep fighting off narratives about him.

“All the people that’s questioning my effort, they don’t play football, they do what y’all (in the media) do….all that people that got opinions, they’re media, surface guys. None of them play football,” Pickens said.

This week, Pickens was criticized once again for a lack of effort. In the first quarter of the game, with the Steelers driving and just after Pickens had made a catch to put the team into the red zone, running back Jaylen Warren broke free and was headed to the end zone. Pickens was downfield, but he made seemingly no effort to attempt to block Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones. Pickens stood still and watched Jones make the tackle at the 1-yard line, preventing Warren from scoring. Diontae Johnson defended Pickens, but acknowledged the issue at hand.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens in a game against the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 16, 2023. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

“I was just trying to prevent the Tank Dell situation, the same thing that happened to (him). I ain’t want to get an injury. When you stay on the block too long, you can get ran up on very easily,” Pickens said.

But the media is not the only people who have criticized George Pickens. Others, including teammates, have become critical of him, but Pickens’ coach, Mike Tomlin is the guy who has acknowledged that his frustrations are a problem because they are not solution-oriented. On Mnnday, he followed up on another note that guys should be expected to get criticized.

“This is professional football. What we do gets analyzed. If you’ve been in this business any length of time, you know and understand that and hopefully you embrace that. The competitor in you better embrace that,” Tomlin said.

Tomlin admitted that he sees the offense having trouble dealing with adversity in the stadium, which can manifest into an issue, particularly with his skill position players.

“You know, we got dealing with adversity issues, and sometimes that can be characterized as maturity issues, certainly,” Tomlin said.

George Pickens is at the top of that list. He has to handle the frustrations of NFL play better, but brushing them off will not help, and it will only further the damage created by his frustrations. As a player, if he wants to stick around in Pittsburgh long-term, that will have to happen. It will have to happen even if he does want to stick around in the NFL as a consistent culture booster.