The Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver room is once again full of drama and turmoil. Once it was Antonio Brown, then JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool. Now, it is Diontae Johnson and George Pickens, with Pickens being the more controversial one out of the two. Pickens has been outspoken against his teammates on social media, admitted giving up on a play for his own benefit, and has had countless temper tantrums on the sidelines. All these antics have turned him into a villain, and now Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo is stating that the players don’t want to play with Pickens anymore.
Steelers Locker Room Growing Tired Of Pickens
Pickens has been in the headlines for negative reasons throughout the entire 2023 NFL season. He has had some great moments on the field, but not enough to justify his countless antics. Just this past week when the Steelers played the Indianapolis Colts, Pickens went viral for a play where he gave up blocking a defender halfway through, which led to Jaylen Warren being tackled, rather than scoring an easy touchdown. Pickens later tried to defend this play by saying he was trying to avoid an injury.
To make matters worse, Warren later came out and said that he would have blocked for Pickens no matter what. Pickens clearly put himself first, rather than the team on that play, which is despicable and not the correct mindset for a professional athlete. Pickens has been scrutinized a ton in the media for this play and his pathetic answer. During an appearance on 93.7 The Fan, Fittipaldo explained how the locker room is starting to give up on Pickens.
“99 percent of the players in that locker room don’t want to play with a guy like that.”
At this point, no one should blame the players for feeling this way. It’s natural to not want to play with someone who only cares about themself and has been nothing but a distraction for the team as of late. Pickens didn’t want to put his body on the line for the betterment of the team against the Colts, who’s to say he won’t do that again? The Steelers ended up scoring on the drive against Indianapolis, but that isn’t always going to happen. Next time Pickens does this, it could hurt the team even more.
If players in the Steelers locker room are truly feeling this way about playing with Pickens, then Head Coach Mike Tomlin’s reaction to Pickens’ antics from Week 15 must feel like a gut punch. Tomlin acknowledged that Pickens messed up, and when asked about possibly punishing the second-year wide receiver, Tomlin stated that Pickens is too talented to keep off of the field by benching him. This is a horrible precedent to set for your team, especially with a young player. This is an absolute slap in the face to guys like Cam Heyward and TJ Watt, who give their all on every down and just want to win. Tomlin did however say during his press conference on Wednesday, that any possible form of discipline for the Georgia standout would not be explained to the media.
So far, Pickens has taken no accountability for his actions and he is going to need to step up in the last three weeks of the regular season in order to earn back his teammates’ respect. The Steelers have three games that are absolutely must-win if they want to have a chance to make the playoffs. Pickens will need to perform well, and not allow himself to become a distraction during the most important stretch of 2023.
