Steelers' George Pickens Says He's Not Upset With Team amid Lack of Usage | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Sarah Rodriguez George Pickens tallied a combined three catches in the last two games, but he isn't upset at his lack of usage in the Pittsburgh Steelers' passing attack.
Just take it from the wide receiver himself:
Brooke Pryor @bepryorQuestion to George Pickens: "George, are you upset?" <br><br>Pickens: "Oh nah." <br><br>That solves that! <a href="">
While he didn't exactly have much to say, Pickens was fairly clear that he isn't upset with the situation.
Yet things didn't seem so simple after the Georgia product was held to two catches for minus-one yard in Thursday's win over the Tennessee Titans.
As Kevin Patra of NFL.com noted, he "raised eyebrows, sharing a post on social media that included the phrase 'free me' while taking down Steelers-related content."
Pickens has since deleted the post that said "free me," but it was still enough for reporters to ask Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin about it. Tomlin quickly dismissed any notion that the situation was a problem.
"I know it's a cute story for you guys, but it is a pebble in my shoe, to be quite honest with you, in terms of the things that I have to do in an effort to get this group ready to play this week," he said. "Our focus is on the Green Bay Packers and what we're all going to do in this football game, and I can't state it any plainer than that. It's like reality television, the way you guys follow social media and write stories about it."
Pickens had an opportunity to be more productive against the Titans, but he failed to get a second foot down in bounds on what would have been a touchdown catch.
He also isn't far removed from back-to-back games with more than 100 receiving yards against the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 8 and 22 and is still in the middle of a productive season with 30 catches for 521 yards and three touchdowns through eight contests.
The return of Diontae Johnson has cut into Pickens' opportunities some, but it is difficult to envision 5-3 Pittsburgh making a playoff run without its go-to wide receivers both playing key roles in the offense.
Perhaps Pickens has realized that since his social media posts, which is why he isn't upset with his lack of recent usage or production.