Jaylen Warren: George Pickens is ‘not the selfish player people think he is’

Just a few weeks ago, local and national media criticized second-year WR George Pickens for his lack of effort on a potential touchdown run by RB Jaylen Warren against the Indianapolis Colts. The Steelers still scored a few plays later, but Picken’s decision not to block was obvious and rightly drew criticism. Things got even worse later in the week when he was asked about it and claimed he was trying to avoid injury.

The situation was undoubtedly exacerbated by the Steelers losing three games, putting their season in jeopardy, but this week it provided a major distraction. Big enough that head coach Mike Tomlin made himself available to the media on Wednesday, a rare occurrence.

On Thursday after practice, Warren spoke to the media and discussed how Pickens blocked him during his touchdown run against the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday.

“It was cool,” Warren said via a Tweet from Chris Adamski of Trib Live. “That’s GP, he’s going to do (that), I knew he was going to do that. He’s not the selfish player people think he is.”

When you talk about the player who lost a touchdown because of Pickens’ actions, that carries some weight. After the play Warren is talking about, the two could be seen celebrating together in the end zone. Here is a Clip of this piece and the celebration that followed.

Important note: Interim offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner made a point of praising Pickens during his coordinator availability on Wednesday this week, saying he was seeing more approval from the wide receiver. He used Pickens’ effort after Diontae Johnson’s overthrown fumble as an example. Pickens made a form tackle on this play.

It’s funny what getting a player more involved can do and win some games. Many called for Pickens to be benched, but in the last two games he has 11 catches for 326 yards and two touchdowns. It seems as if any potential animosity that might have arisen from the no-effort game a few weeks ago has already disappeared between Warren and Pickens.