George Pickens was the limelight of media attention after the Steelers’ Sunday’s game against the Cowboys. It was because of three reasons: One, earlier this offseason, the WR was speculated to be traded to an AFC powerhouse; second, after the game, Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis called Pickens ‘weak,’ and said that the team needed a better receiver; and third, the limitations of snaps Pickens got in the game.

Now, talking about these pointers in brief – in the offseason, the Steelers were trying to get star receivers to the team to help their quarterback. However, amidst all those, an NFL insider speculated that the franchise might move away with George Pickens anytime soon. Now these speculations grew when in the SNF game, the WR received few snaps which also resulted in Lewis calling him weak. But coach Mike Tomlin claimed that it is a part of strategy, and that “there’s no underlying story.”

However, it’s speculated that something isn’t going right in the locker room. And this was also evident in quarterback Justin Field’s comment in the post-game presser. When a curious reporter asked, “Why was it difficult to get George Pickens involved in offense,” the quarterback expressed, “George Pickens didn’t get involved as he usually does today.” But why? Well, Fields tried to answer that too, by saying, “GP [George Pickens] is a good corner, but you know GP is also a good receiver,” so that’s why he didn’t get involved much in snaps.

So, does that arguably mean Fields is blaming it all on Pickens for not being able to beat his corner? Nevertheless, the team lost 20-17 to the Cowboys on October 6, and George Pickens was able to play just 34 out of 58 possible snaps. On the other hand, his teammates Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin III each outsnapped him, by playing 47 out of the 58 possible snaps.

So, does this mean the Steelers are slowly losing confidence in their star WR, George Pickens?

What do the Steelers think about George Pickens?

In the Week 1 game, Justin Fields was able to find George Pickens for some great plays that eventually helped the team to get a win. Now, this factor itself tells how important Pickens is for the Steelers. Now, talking about the faith of the quarterback Justin Fields in him, the QB said, “I mean, yeah, of course I’m encouraged….I’ll take GP [George Pickens] versus anybody, to be honest with you. He’s that good a receiver and that good of a player. So of course there’s going to be times where they might double them and stuff like that. And that’s the time where guys like Pat (Freiermuth], Calvin [Austin III], Van [Jefferson] and others to step up in that position. But I think George is going to get the ball a good amount each and every week.”

Hence, his statements confirmed that he has full faith in George Pickens. In fact, his remarks clearly hinted that Pickens was about to get less spans in the coming week. And that’s the reason when after the SNF game, in the press-conference, coach Mike Tomlin mentioned, “We just wanted to kind of minimize his reps in an effort to get more productivity. We’re just trying to manage in terms of the totality of the big picture.” Additionally, it was a move to ensure that when Pickens was on the field, his performance would be at a higher level.

Because, as per Tomlin, the goal was to manage George Pickens’ work load for the long-term benefit of the team and get the most out of each play.

Besides these, do also check out our latest Think Tank exclusive interview with Doug Sanders. It’s packed with insights on the current NFL season, college football, NIL, and much more.