Ben Roethlisberger had some interesting takes on George Pickens, but the takes focused on his lack of involvement in the Steelers game against Dallas. In his comments, he suspects something may be going on with Pickens and speculates what it might be, but he also addresses how Mike Tomlin is handling it, which might not be the proper way.
You can catch Roethlisberger's comments on his Footbahlin podcast on YouTube. He did have an insightful slant, especially on whatever may be going on. However, he felt the Steelers had better options for handling his situation than how Mike Tomlin handled it Sunday, which might have given the Steelers a better chance of winning. He also addressed the potential trade rumors.
Ben Roethlisberger's take on George Pickens
As we all know, Mike Tomlin limited George Pickens's snap count. Roethlisberger did ask the pertinent question: Why keep your best offensive playmaker off the field? It obviously does not give you the best option to win the game.
Mike Tomlin said snaps could not keep a fresh set of legs for Pickens, an explanation Roethlisberger didn't buy. He narrowed it to just a few potential factors. It could be a punishment for cutting out on practice or something similar, like missing meetings, or some other reason.
Another reason he speculated was that perhaps they know Pickens might not be blocking on rushing plays. If the coaches were aware he wouldn't be blocking, it would make sense to take him out of the game for rushing plays if he is not going to do his assigned job.
However, if the snap count limitation was due to punishment, he feels the Steelers took the wrong approach. He argued there were better avenues to punish Pickens rather than limit his plays. They could have simply not allowed him to be a starter and not played in the first series.
Not being wouldn't have given him the opportunity to run out of the tunnel with the other starters. That would keep Pickens in the game to make splash plays. Where, as if it was perhaps for not blocking or something similar, then Tomlin made the right call.
His slant on a potential Pickens trade
Roethlisberger then talked about a potential Pickens trade. He does not know why the Steelers would want to trade him for another wide receiver when that approach does nothing to correct the Steelers' situation, which is that they lack a clear number two receiver.
So, doing a one-for-one receiver trade does nothing to improve the team. Whereas if they trade for Devante Adams, it would give them a clear number two receiver, open up George Pickens in the passing game, and might even improve the rushing game.
His takes made sense. George Pickens obviously has something going on, whether it's his attitude, lack of team participation, or his play. However, if there is, Mike Tomlin may need to become creative in how he deals with it if the Steelers want to maximize their efforts to win as many of their remaining games as possible. However, trading Pickens is not the answer either.