Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens was the talk of social media during his team’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday.
It was not positive. A replay shows Pickens literally failing to attempt a block for running back Jaylen Warren near the end zone in a game Pittsburgh lost 30-13. It led to some pretty interesting reactions on social media.
For Pickens, this comes after frustration boiled over a week before in a loss to the lowly New England Patriots. It has not been a good couple of weeks for the talented sophomore.
Pickens talked about the play mentioned above on Tuesday. In the process, he seemed to admit it was a business decision.
“I was just trying to prevent the Tank Dell situation, the same thing that happened to (him). I ain’t want to get an injury. When you stay on the block too low, you can get ran up on very easily,” George Pickens told reporters.
To an extent, it’s fair to bring up the Dell injury. The Houston Texans star rookie wide receiver suffered a broken left fibula in attempting a block on a run play near the end zone against the Denver Broncos on Dec. 3.
The plays in question are somewhat different in that Dell’s injury came amid a scrum in the trenches as to where Pickens was blocking out on the boundary.
No one wants to see a player suffer a serious injury on the field. It’s also easy for “keyboard warriors” to criticize Pickens. But he certainly did admit to making a business decision in failing to attempt a block for his teammate.
There are wide receivers that are more than willing to get dirty in the blocking game. Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk with the San Francisco 49ers are two prime examples of that. The same can be said about Philadelphia Eagles star A.J. Brown and DK Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks, among others. It does not appear that Pickens is cut of the same cloth.
George Pickens stats (2023): 52 receptions, 814 yards, 3 TD
A second-round pick out of Georgia in the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickens remains the Steelers’ leading receiver. Their sputtering offense needs him to do his thing with Pittsburgh now at 7-7 and amid a two-game losing streak heading into Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Just don’t expect him to get his jersey dirty in blocking for Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren moving forward. He made that clear on Tuesday.