Mike Tomlin doubles down on Steelers 'load management' reason for George Pickens' reduced role
10/08/2024 02:29 PM
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is revealing more about why he’s resting George Pickens at times. Pickens is getting a reduced role because Tomlin is interested in evening the amount of work asked from his wide receivers, per the Pat McAfee show.
Pickens received about 57 percent of the snaps for the Steelers in the team’s last game against the Dallas Cowboys. That’s quite low contrasted to several other premier wideouts in the league. By comparison, Garrett Wilson played 96 percent of the snaps last week for the New York Jets, in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London.
The Steelers are having some tough sledding. The team has lost back-to-back games, after starting the season 3-0 with backup quarterback Justin Fields under center.
Steelers need George Pickens to help the offense this season
Pittsburgh’s offense has been slow going this season. The team started 3-0, but it was mostly due to the excellence of the defense. The Steelers have struggled to score touchdowns.
Pickens is clearly a top target for this offense. The wideout has 23 receptions this season for 310 yards, but doesn’t have a touchdown through five games. Pickens also has just one 100 yard receiving performance this year, which came in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
The wideout is coming off an excellent 2023 season, which saw him finish the year with 1,140 receiving yards and five touchdowns. There was hope that Pickens would explode in 2024, playing with veteran quarterback Russell Wilson. An injury sidelined Wilson this season, and it seems Pickens has slowed down while playing alongside Fields.
Tomlin told reporters he hasn’t heard any frustration from Pickens, although the receiver has spoken out before when he is frustrated with how he’s handled in the offense. Pickens at times appears to run half-heartedly on his routes as well.
“It’s certainly things that I’m open to addressing and will and do,” Tomlin said, per Sports Illustrated. “I just don’t detail them in settings like this, because it’s business between he and I in terms of his growth and development as a player and as a man. I just don’t think it aids that growth into the development to address it in open settings such as this. Regarding his behavior, I am aware of that, and obviously that has been and will continue to be addressed. I wasn’t aware of the messaging and so, you know, I’m just giving you a knee jerk response to that.”
The Steelers next play the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
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