Wide receiver George Pickens has caused a stir with the Pittsburgh Steelers for all the wrong reasons the past week. First, he received criticism for his disinterest in blocking on a running play during the first half against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15. Then, he shockingly admitted on December 19 that he wasn’t blocking on the play in order to avoid injury. Obviously, that garnered quite the reaction from Steelers and NFL media pundits.
While all of that reaction is interesting, it holds little importance. What really matters is how Pickens’ teammates, particularly running back Jaylen Warren, view the receiver’s recent blocking effort and comments. After all, it was Warren who may have been able to score a touchdown on the play where Pickens chose not to block.
“George Pickens standing still like it’s draft night,” NFL Notifications X (formerly Twitter) account wrote. Week 15 wasn’t the first time Pickens received criticism for “taking plays off.” But after his missed opportunity to block near the goal line for Warren, Pickens received questions from the media about his blocking. The 22-year-old receiver ripped the media for the criticism.
“All the people that’s questioning my effort, they don’t play football, they do what y’all [in the media] do,” Pickens told reporters, via Steelers Now’s Nick Farabaugh. “All that people that got opinions, they’re media, surface guys. None of them play football.” Pickens continued, saying, “I ain’t want to get an injury. When you stay on the block too low, you can get ran up on very easily.”
