Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens certainly talked the talk Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys, but he ended up a nonfactor in a frustrating 20-17 collapse.
Despite making a bold statement with his eye black reading “Always F***ing Open,” Pickens was held to just three catches for 26 yards, leaving little impact as the Steelers let their lead slip away.
believe it's "Open Fucking Always"
George Pickens is certainly making a statement with tonight's eyeblack https://t.co/SOm3icXlSz
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) October 7, 2024
After the game, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin offered a bizarre explanation for Pickens’ limited role, despite the fact that he is the franchise’s top receiver and most explosive target in quarterback Justin Fields’ arsenal.
“We just wanted to kind of minimize his reps,” Tomlin told reporters. “In an effort to kind of get more productivity. We just, you know, trying to rep-manage in terms of totality of the big picture.
“He wasn’t less of a focal point, in terms of our intentions of what we wanted to do offensively, But, we did want to cut his reps a little bit in order to get higher quality play, just in general.”
Where Pittsburgh Steelers, George Pickens Go From Here
Despite entering Sunday’s game with 20 catches for 284 yards, Pickens did not seem all that motivated and certainly did not live up to his strong message on his eye black.
Following Pickens’ disappointing showing, it is even more fair to wonder whether the Steelers will make an aggressive push to acquire All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams in the coming days as the trade deadline looms November 5.
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