Mike Tomlin and George Pickens had 'great meeting' ahead of Colts game amid WR's frustrations
George Pickens has immeasurable talent. He knows it. Mike Tomlin knows it. The Pittsburgh Steelers fanbase knows it.
That’s part of why the wide receiver has been visibly frustrated over the last couple of weeks. The Steelers offense has faltered, and it’s led to losses in three of their last four games. Pickens doesn’t have a game with over 100 receiving yards since Oct. 22.
While Pickens’s frustrations can be signs of a player who cares, it’s not something Tomlin enjoys speaking on. He called the outbursts from the former Georgia wide receiver a problem earlier this season because, “it’s not solution-oriented.”
Speaking with the media ahead of an all-important showdown with the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, Tomlin elaborated on how Pickens can get back on track, and revealed the two had a sit-down meeting prior to their AFC showdown.
“Education,” Tomlin revealed, asked how he can get Pickens where he needs to go. “He and I had a great meeting this week. We were just talking about the New England agenda. I’m familiar with the agenda because I’ve just been a component of it in the past. When you have a dynamic player, oftentimes from a game playing perspective, you’ll pick a block of time or block of plays where you’re just going to deny that guy the ball and make others beat you. And the agenda is to keep the ball out of the hands of a significant player, but also if it’s a significant player it’s to create angst within him and within that unit. The quarterback feels pressure to get him the ball and have him included. The player feels pressure because he wants his talents to be a part of moving the football.
“I’ve been a part of that because I was a secondary coach in the NFL Central – known as the Black-and-Blue Division back in the day – when we played Randy Moss, and from time to time we’d say, ‘First quarter, anybody gets it but Randy,’ or “Fourth quarter, anybody gets it but Randy.’ I’ve just been a part of that. Obviously, that mentality has grown over the years, and you see people employ it all the time. A couple years ago when we played the L.A. Rams, we said, ‘Anybody but Cooper Kupp,’ for example. And so there’s an education component that comes with it in terms of managing frustration. Certainly it’s easy to say, ‘Be mature. Don’t get frustrated. It’s part of the game.’ But he needs to understand it is an agenda. It is a game plan. It is something that’s constructed to break him and the unit down. And that’s why it’s so important that he manages the frustration component of it.”
Alas, Tomlin is no stranger to dealing with charismatic wide receivers. The Steelers leader likened it to his history with Antonio Brown, who certainly knows what Pickens is going through.
“(Antonio Brown) saw a lot of it. I used to say to AB, ‘Man, the second quarter is a big quarter.’ Because in the first quarter of the game, people are not going to allow him, a known entity, to be significant. It’s a tactic that’s employed often when you’re talking about significant players, or guys with unique talent in one-on-one circumstances,” Tomlin added. “You can do that for a block of time, but it is very difficult to keep it up over the course of 60 minutes. And that’s the educational component that you talk to a player about.
“You let frustration win, then you’re not there for the final 15 minutes that might be the significant ones where you catch 3 for 90 yards and a touchdown. And so it’s an education component to it as well.”
One thing is for sure, the Steelers need George Pickens to be on his game if they’re going to make a run in 2023. We’ll see how the Pittsburgh star responds for Mike Tomlin and company on Saturday in Indianapolis, with kickoff against the Colts slated for 4:30 p.m. on NFL Network.