Steelers wide receiver George Pickens’ penalties outshined his performance in a 44-38 win over the Bengals on Sunday.
Pickens, who had threee catches for 74 yards and a touchdown, received two 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalties — and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin sent him a stern message after their victory at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.
“He’s just gotta grow up, man,” Tomlin said in his postgame press conference. “It’s an emotional game. These divisional games are big. He’s got a target on his back because he’s George. He understands that. But he’s gotta grow up, and he’s gotta grow up in a hurry.”
Pickens received a 15-yard penalty for taunting a defender in the first half, and then another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the second half for making what appeared like a gun gesture.
He also punted the ball into the stands after a 17-yard score in the first quarter.
Pickens explained that refs “got the gesture wrong” on the second flag.
“[They] thought it was something else,” he said. ” You can’t hurt the team. I never intended to hurt the team, but he just thought the gesture was different. … I was doing the first down; he stated he thought [it was] something else.”
Pickens wasn’t disqualified because his second penalty wasn’t taunting toward Bengals players, referee Shawn Hochuli said in a pool report.
Pickens added that he wouldn’t change his reaction in those situations.
“No, honestly, like I said, I can just keep running my routes, keep playing,” he said. “We got refs out there to make certain calls for certain penalties, certain flags. If they don’t make it, then I’m pretty sure they’ll take it up…
“To be honest, it was kind of a ticky-tack game, and I’m just glad we came out with the dub.”
Tomlin clearly had enough after a separate incident last week, when Pickens got into a scuffle with Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II during a 24-19 loss.
Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson also said he talked to Pickens on the sidelines about keeping his emotions in check.
“It’s passion, and so sometimes that takes over and I think that just being able to balance it, I thought he did a great job responding,” Wilson said. “And I just think that you just got to understand that when you’re at one of the best receivers in the world, everybody’s going to have their eyes on you, and just you got to understand that just to stay neutral, stay poised in those moments and still bring excitement. Don’t change that but just understand that.
“I was telling him on the sideline when you’re one of the best in the world, you expect to make those plays, and you don’t need to do anything extra necessarily. … He’s learning it as we go. He’s got to be smarter, too, though, and he’s going to do that.”
The Steelers (9-3) face the Browns (3-8) in Pittsburgh on Sunday.
