Brian Schottenheimer is getting a taste of the immaturity issues Mike Tomlin dealt with while coaching George Pickens in Pittsburgh.
The Cowboys’ coach said Friday he’s going to address the polarizing receiver following his NSFW post trashing ex-Seahawks star cornerback Richard Sherman, which he later deleted after the former Super Bowl champ criticized Pickens’ performance Thursday.
Sherman said Pickens appeared “uninterested” after a five-catch, 37-yard showing in the Cowboys’ 44-30 road loss to the Lions that could cost them a playoff berth.
“I’m aware of what was supposedly put out there,” Schottenheimer said Friday, per ESPN. “I’ve not talked to him yet. I understand it’s been taken down, but I will be talking to him, just checking on him. Again, this is unfortunately things that we deal with in this profession. But I have not spoken to him, but I will.”
Pickens is having a career-best year in his first season with the Cowboys following a three-year run with the Steelers in which he clashed with Tomlin at times, with the coach even telling him to grow up.
His time with “America’s Team” had been relatively rosy before Thursday’s contest when Pickens displayed poor body language at times and had virtually no effect on the outcome, even with fellow star receiver CeeDee Lamb leaving early with a concussion.
That led Sherman to call out Pickens on the Amazon Prime postgame show while the streaming giant showed clips of Pickens appearing to slack on his routes, including one that led to an interception.
“The big story here is George Pickens,” Sherman said. “George Pickens, throughout the game, especially late in the game, looked uninterested. Uninterested in playing football. And that’s what you can’t have. If you’re going to be a superstar, if you want to be the best receiver in the National Football League, you can’t ever be disengaged. It doesn’t matter if the game is going your way or not going your way, you can’t just disappear in these games or else you’re not going to have impact.”
Sherman added that a game like this can make teams question whether to pay Pickens, who will be a top free agent this offseason.
The Cowboys reportedly do not intend to let Pickens leave.
“You’re the guy, CeeDee Lamb is not in this game, he’s out,” Sherman said, “and you get intercepted on your slant routes, and you can’t be the guy and you half-ass it. I’m sorry, it’s unacceptable and if you’re looking at him and you’re looking to pay him big-time receiver money, $40 million, you got to look at this tape and say, ‘Hey, this is a guy we can trust to pay $40 million regardless of circumstance?’ I don’t know.”
Pickens did not take kindly to this criticism, lashing out at the former Legion of Boom member in a scathing post that he later took down.
The 24-year-old did say after the game, though, that he can’t “disappear,” per ESPN, which seemingly would be in line with Sherman’s remarks.
“Lots of shh has to go right for. Explosive. Plays,” Pickens wrote Friday in an Instagram story. “… and it’s funny cause I thought former players would know that such as. RICHARD P—Y ASS SHERMAN WHO BTW AINT SHH WITHOUT THE LEGION OF BOOM WE ALL REMEMBER SAN FRANCISCO BROTHER.”
Schottenheimer defended Pickens on Thursday when asked if it seemed Pickens displayed less energy than usual, noting that the coverage Detroit implemented factored into his limited production.
He maintained that stance after viewing the film Friday.
Pickens has already set his career-high marks in receiving yards (1,179), touchdowns (8), catches (78) and targets (114), rewarding Dallas (6-6-1) for taking a shot on him via an offseason trade.
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“I don’t think any of us coached or played well enough,” Schottenheimer said, per ESPN, “All in all, I’m going to judge George on his body of work, man. His body of work, he’s shown what an elite player he is and what a game-changer that he is. I have no question.”
