George Pickens is among the most talented receivers the Steelers have had in recent years. That says a lot, and he is experiencing a fruitful second season as he raises his game from just good in his rookie season to genuinely tremendous. Pittsburgh has embraced it, giving him tons of targets. But a blindside block penalty and then an ensuing taunting penalty have raised concerns about the consistency of Pickens. Can he overcome himself when guys try to get under his skin?
Well, former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is not sure the team can allow it to happen much, it did not cost the Steelers a win, but there is a scenario where it could cost them a game at some point in the season. Roethlisberger is highly concerned about it.
“I just don’t know how long do we allow that to keep happening,” Roethlisberger said on his Footbahlin podcast. “Because it didn’t end up hurting the team. But what if it did? You don’t need to do that. There’s no point in doing that…. it seems like this happens in every game. It hasn’t happened yet, but it could hurt us at some point. What if that happens in the fourth quarter and costs you the game?”
After the game, Pickens addressed just what happened on that spot. Knowing George Pickens is emotional, Rams defensive backs threw small jabs at Pickens and tried to get under his skin. They were the factors that made Pickens run into a taunting penalty that set the Steelers back after a significant gain off a slant route. His blindside block penalty did not help matters, either.
“I feel like personally, going out there, a game like this showed me, they’re kinda looking at me for trying to mess up,” Pickens said. Guys are antagonizing me more. Today is the first time I’ve seen anything like that. Guys were really just trying to get me out of the game or get under my skin deliberately. All I can really say is keep fighting hard.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin wants his players to learn and grow from the experience. He’s not worried about them being competitors. He would later say that he would rather say ‘whoa than sic’em’ to these players, who are competitors. He has applied that to many players, including Pickens, in the past. It seems he will continue to do just that, but the concerns about Pickens here are significant.