Pickens said to reporters on Tuesday, “The people that are questioning my effort, they don’t play football.” “They follow your lead.”
Even head coach Mike Tomlin has recently questioned Pickens’ sometimes dubious decision-making. The most recent instances were during Pittsburgh’s Saturday 30–13 loss to Indianapolis.
During a run by teammate Jaylen Warren in the first quarter, the second-year player failed to block downfield, allowing Warren to be downed just short of the goal line. After an interception by Indianapolis, Pickens also ran downfield, effectively dodging Colts defender Julian Blackmon.
Videos of Pickens’ lackluster effort went viral on social media.
“Everybody that got opinions are all media, surface guys,” Pickens said. “None of them play football. They are never going to be in the NFL, they are just media guys.”
Not everyone. Tomlin said recently Pickens needs to do a better job of dealing with adversity amid a late skid that’s dropped the Steelers (7-7) to the outside of the AFC playoff chase looking in.
Asked on Monday to describe Pickens’ effort level against Indianapolis, Tomlin said “I thought he was better but still has obviously, room for continued improvement.”
Maybe not according to Pickens. He said he didn’t block during Warren’s run out of fear of getting injured much in the way Houston rookie wide receiver Tank Dell was recently when Dell was rolled up on from behind.
“You stay and block too long you can get run up on very easily,” Pickens said.
And as for his sideline demeanor, which can run the gamut from petulant to checked out when things haven’t gone Pickens’ way, he shrugged.
“Everybody is mad when you lose,” Pickens said. “Like I said a lot of media guys want to say it’s my frustrations that we’re losing. I’m pretty sure the whole team is mad just like me.”
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