Steelers OC Matt Canada addresses George Pickens' frustrations
There’s so much Steelers angst over George Pickens‘ much-publicized frustration. Now offensive coordinator Matt Canada is promising that the receiver won’t be minimized.
If you haven’t been paying attention to recent Steelers news, let’s get you all caught up. Diontae Johnson came back from a hamstring injury and Pickens has caught only three passes since his return. Then Pickens, the second-year receiver from Georgia, wiped away all Steelers references on his Instagram account. Although he added some of it back, he insisted it was nothing personal against the team that gives him a hefty paycheck.
Coach Mike Tomlin described the situation as a media-created reality show. Then he likened the so-called Pickens problem “to a pebble in his shoe.” Running back Najee Harris even told Pickens “there’s nothing wrong with being frustrated.” Meanwhile, Johnson said his fellow receiver “is human.” So it’s OK to be frustrated.
Canada said Steelers can’t minimize George Pickens, even when defenses double team him
George Pickens, even with two straight sub-par games, still has caught 30 passes for 521 yards and three touchdowns. So what does offensive coordinator Matt Canada have to say?
“GP is an unbelievable talent,” Canada said of the Steelers second-round pick from the 2022 NFL Draft. “He’s had some great games this year. He’s drawn a lot of attention. On Thursday (Pittsburgh’s game against the Titans) the run game opened up because there were two guys on George almost every play. Diontae again had a big night because there are two guys on George.”
So it’s not the offense or anything George Pickens is doing, it’s the defense. So what can you do about that? Canada has thoughts.
“We can’t let him be minimized completely,” the Steelers OC said. “There is a balance there. We understand both sides to that. Ultimately, all we care about is winning, but we certainly want to maximize everyone’s potential. If they’re putting two guys on him, we want to make sure we’re making them pay, and all of those drives are scoring drives. At some point, they shouldn’t be able to do that.”
There’s more: “Me and George get along great. I think George loves football. He loves to play. He wants to win. We talked — me being on the sideline, I talked to George after every series. George was happy we were playing well, wanting to win.
“Obviously, he wants to — he’s a super talent. He wants the ball. Everybody who plays football at a skill position wants the ball, and they want the ball more. I don’t think you’d find anybody anywhere that doesn’t. We’re in a great spot with that. We’ll continue to go, continue to find ways to win.”
The Steelers play host to the Packers on Sunday. Maybe George Pickens will vent his frustrations on the Green Bay secondary.