George Pickens Enraged at Steelers Passing Offense?

Steelers standout second-year receiver George Pickens is not happy. On a day where the Steelers offense only scored seven points, Pickens caught five passes for 36 yards on seven targets. The number of targets for Pickens in that regard was relatively high. But that does not mean Pickens is happy with how the game went.

Pickens was upset on the sideline near the end of the game of a frustrating day for the offense.

Following that video, Pickens would turn down speaking to reporters following the game, instead opting to leave because he did not have much to say. Pickens proves he is an emotional guy who lets his passion show on the football field. There is little doubt about that fact when the Steelers drafted him.

Following the game, Pickens liked an Instagram comment stating, “nobody to get that man the ball tho.”

It is less than ideal for the Steelers to have their ascending star receiver looking on the outside regarding the offense. Matt Canada expanded George Pickens’ route tree, as it became evident throughout training camp and this game. But the 49ers played so far off in man coverage that Pickett decided never to rip it deep toward Pickens. The one time he did, Pickens nearly made yet another alien-like catch near the sideline.

Back in 2022, when Pickens had an outburst on the sideline against the Atlanta Falcons due to a lack of targets, Diontae Johnson had to calm him down on the sideline. But Mike Tomlin did not view his passion as a negative.

“I’d rather say whoa than sic ’em,” Tomlin said. “I want a guy that wants to be a significant part of what we do. Now, the appropriate and professional and mature way to express it, is that we’re working on and that will continue.” 

Pickens’ response to that was plenty of receivers in the past did the same thing. He’s not wrong in that regard. Pittsburgh probably does need to give Pickens at least one deep ball target a quarter. It just makes sense from the standpoint of the offense. When they want to create explosive plays, Pickens is their best option to do that. But they did not give him many chances to do that on Sunday, and it seems he is frustrated by that fact.