The spiraling Steelers’ season has entered the portion where teammates are calling out one another for a lack of effort.
In last Saturday’s loss to the Colts, receiver George Pickens did not block for Jaylen Warren on a play near the goal line.
Warren let it be known he would have handled things differently were the roles reversed.
“I see where he’s coming from,” Warren told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It is what it is. At the end of the day, he was doing what he thought was best for him.
“Some people play the game differently. If I was in that position I would have blocked for him. But we play differently, so…”
Warren has every reason to be miffed with Pickens following his embarrassing lack of effort on the play in question.
Warren scooted to the left toward the goal line on a pitch from quarterback Mitch Trubisky late in the first quarter in a scoreless game, but Pickens did his best mannequin impression.
The second-year receiver just stood in place, only extending his right arm.
With Pickens providing as much resistance as a folding chair, Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones helped bring down Warren at the 1-yard line.
The Steelers did ultimately score on the drive, but players are expected to help their teammates.
Pickens claimed he was looking out for himself on the play after seeing Texans standout rookie Tank Dell suffer a season-ending injury while blocking.
“I was trying to prevent a Tank Dell situation,” Pickens said, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I didn’t want to get injured. When you stay in and block somebody, you can get run on very easily.”
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Pickens will not play in Saturday’s critical AFC North home game against the Bengals, but avoided saying whether Pickens has been disciplined.
Pittsburgh (7-7) sits one game behind Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Houston and Buffalo, with the Bengals and Colts occupying the sixth and seventh seeds, respectively.
“He’s got talents,” Tomlin said regarding why Pickens will play. “We want to utilize them. He’s very much in growth and development, but it would be the very same if we were winning games or he said appropriate things with you guys (Tuesday).”
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