The Pittsburgh Steelers fans were quick to bash George Pickens after the week 5 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Things reached a tipping point when the Steelers receiver yanked Jourdan Lewis’ face mask. And fans started calling him out on his “attitude.” But this frustration might be stemming from the fact that he’s been losing a significant amount of reps.

The Steel City receiver had a little chat with the media after the Cowboys’ loss. They hurled all kinds of curveballs at him, including the ones about his eye black tape that had a very interesting message on it. While his eye black tape said, “Open F—-king Always,” he just caught 3 passes in the whole game against the Dallas Cowboys. Isn’t that ironic?

They targeted Pickens 7 times, and he caught three passes in the whole game. This raised some questions. The Steelers WR low-key threw the coaching staff under the bus. When the media asked him the reason for the dwindling reps. “I think it was probably the game plan, so, that’s pretty much it,” said Pickens. He was only utilized for 34 snaps—59% of offensive snaps against the Dallas Cowboys.

This was the lowest number of snaps he’s played in a game in his career. This seems like a significant drop in reps considering that he was part of 86% of the offensive reps against the Indianapolis Colts and at least 68% in the first three games. Pickens shows reluctance when it comes to blocking and that’s one of the reasons why the team is relying on other players.

As Mike Tomlin put it, “Oftentimes he’s [Pickens] not at the point of attack in the blocking game. Blocking responsibilities within our scheme are more handled by guys like Van Jefferson, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said. But Pickens getting fewer snaps is a part of Arthur Smith’s grand plan. He’s done it with Derrick Henry and AJ Brown in the past and the OC is not afraid to “mix and match and maximize things or set things up.” Also, Arthur Smith had no idea that Pickens was frustrated with his utility.

“I didn’t sense any frustration from the snap count,” Smith said. “I think anytime, as long as I’ve been in the NFL, everybody handles emotions different, trying to win games, but I didn’t ever get that sense.” As we try to figure out the curious case of George Pickens, we must address the eye black tape he wore against the Cowboys.

NFLs eye black tape policy bites George Pickens in the back

The 23-year-old receiver ticked the NFL off when he wore the eye black tape that said, “Open F—ing Always.” The NFL is going to review the case. It doesn’t allow players to display unapproved messages that are personal in nature. For Pickens, “It’s just eye black,” and he didn’t expect any repercussions of wearing it.

In fact, he was completely unaware of the policy. “Never seen it before,” he said to the media personnel. “Have you seen it before?” An interesting thing to note here is that Cam Heyward was fined in 2015 for wearing an eye black that had his father’s name on it. But the young receiver wasn’t bothered about it and replied by saying, “Years ago? When I wasn’t in the league? So, nah.”

It’s a bit concerning to know that Pickens leads the Steelers with 23 receptions, pass targets and receiving yards. These numbers don’t seem as impressive. The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to Las Vegas and time will tell whether Arthur Smith has updated packages for the young receiver.