Whether you want to admit it or not, we are all a bit worried about George Pickens in the back of our minds. Though the young wide receiver is oozing with talent, we also know the drama that could potentially ensue if his emotions get out of hand. We got a concerning glimpse of this during the Steelers' win over the Titans in Week 9.
After seeing limited usage on offense, we could feel the frustration from Pickens from our couch at home. When Diontae Johnson scored the go-ahead touchdown to end a 21-game drought without a score, fellow WR Allen Robinson ran to celebrate with Johnson, while Pickens hung his head and mozied to the sideline.
Following the Steelers victory, Pickens made a controversial social media post on his Instagram story with a caption that read, 'Free me.' A few days later, Mike Tomlin reluctantly addressed questions regarding Pickens' frustration. Here's what he had to say during the Tuesday press conference.
""Heck yeah, man. [George Pickens] expresses frustration all the time. He wants to be significant. He wants to be a reason why we are successful. Man, y'all don't begrudge that. I want guys that want the football. I want guys who want to be central reasons of why we are successful. So, that's a non-issue, to be quite honest with you.""Mike Tomlin during press conference
Tomlin seemed very irritated with the Steelers media on Tuesday. He expressed that 'it's a cute story for you guys' but described it as 'a pebble in my shoe'. Tomlin made it abundantly clear that the focus was on the Green Bay Packers this week, and he clearly didn't have any interest in talking about George Pickens' frustration.
Should Steelers fans be concerned about George Pickens?
Mike Tomlin sees things behind the scenes that we don't. The Pittsburgh Steelers head coach insists that Pickens' frustration stems from wanting to be a reason why the team is winning. However, I think that fans are growing concerned, and they have legitimate cause to feel that way.
Pickens does a terrible job of hiding his emotions when he's on the football field or on the sidelines. His body language has been very telling at times this year, and it gives the impression that he cares more about his personal numbers than the win. Whether or not this is actually the case is just speculation.
Moving forward, we need to see a bit more emotional control from the second-year receiver. Pickens has ridiculous upside, but he needs to do a better job of keeping his frustration in check. If he can get with the program, he has a chance to stick around this organization for a long time. But that might require a bit of a change in attitude.