Steelers RB Jaylen Warren on George Pickens not blocking: 'I would have blocked for him'
Pittsburgh Steelers receiver George Pickens made a business decision this past Saturday in declining to block for running back Jaylen Warren on a play in the first quarter of the 30-13 Week 15 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts (8-6).
Pickens, who drew widespread criticism for his effort on the play which prevented Warren from getting into the end zone for six, said Tuesday he didn’t want to get injured while blocking.
“I was just trying to prevent the Tank Dell situation, the same thing that happened to [him],” Pickens said. “I ain’t want to get an injury. When you stay on the block too low, you can get ran up on very easily.”
Warren, speaking with the media Wednesday, said that while he sees where Pickens is coming from, he would have blocked for him if the roles were reversed.
“I see where he’s coming from,” Warren said, via Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It is what it is. At the end of the day, he was doing what he thought was best for him.”
Warren added: “Some people play the game differently. If I was in that position, I would have blocked for him. But we play differently, so.”
Mike Tomlin speaks on George Pickens’ frustrations this season
Lack of effort and outbursts of frustration have been two common themes from Pickens and other Steelers players this season. Pickens has been at the center of it, and even had a conversation with head coach Mike Tomlin last week to address his frequent outbursts — at least, that’s what the 51-year-old said to be true.
Pickens denied the two had a conversation about how to manage his frustrations better during games.
“He ain’t said nothing about frustration or anything like that,” Pickens said. “… Last week we played the Colts. I ain’t never had no conversation with Coach T, but ‘Let’s get better, let’s keep working.'”
Tomlin said Wednesday he’d like Pickens “to be more professional in terms of addressing his shortcomings” with the media, but that the team isn’t giving up on helping him grow as both a player and person.
“He’s got talents, we want to utilize them,” Tomlin said, via Pro Football Talk. “He’s very much in growth and development, but it would be the same if we were winning games or if he said appropriate things to you guys yesterday. You guys might have gone away, but that wouldn’t have made me any more comfortable about this process that he’s going through. It is ongoing and continual and it will continue to require our attention.”