Browns Defender Responds To Inflammatory Shot From Steelers Star

They say talk is cheap. When it comes to the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers rivalry, talk just comes with the territory. So as the two AFC North foes prepare for a Week 14 rematch, this time in the Steel City, it's no surprise the verbal grenades are already underway.

"I don't even know who that is," said Steelers wideout George Pickens on Friday when asked whether or not he'd talk to Browns CB Greg Newsome II before Sunday's game.

Will George Pickens talk to Browns CB Greg Newsome before the game Sunday?

Pickens: “I don’t even know who that is.” pic.twitter.com/FK59cWG7q8
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) December 6, 2024

The comments are a continuation from the two players testy altercation following a 24-19 Browns in back in Week 12. On the final play of the game, Steelers QB Russell Wilson chucked up a Hail Mary toward the end zone looking for a miracle play. As the ball flew through a snowstorm, Newsome and Pickens were jockeying for positioning all the way through the back of the end zone.

As the ball was in the process of being batted down by Grant Delpit and Denzel Ward, Pickens didn't even make a play on it, instead grabbing Newsome by the helmet and pulled him toward the end zone wall. That then sparked a fracas between the two as they wrestled with each other on the ground and needed stadium security to intervene.

Afterwards, Newsome could be heard in the Browns locker room calling the Georgia product "fake tough." While Pickens levied a shot at Newsome's team, saying they only won the game because of the weather.

A week apart brought the war of words largely to a standstill. Neither player was fined for the incident. Each team went on to play their respective Week 13 opponents.

Then came Pickens comments, just two days before the two teams meet again, this time in Pittsburgh.

Newsome took a page out of NFL great Marshawn Lynch in issuing a response.

"I'm just here so I don't get fined," Newsome said to the media on Friday.

The Browns 2021 first-round pick was adamant that he was unbothered by the comments and vowed to not let him impact his play on Sunday. He didn't hide some of his true feelings about the Steelers top wideout in the process though.

"The only way you would take something that somebody says disrespectful is if you actually care about that person," said Newsome. "So I don't care what he has to say or anybody has to say. So I don't take it as disrespectful because I don't care about the dude at all."

Earlier in the week, Newsome's secondary-mate, Ward, revealed that Pickens and the Browns wideouts don't talk much to him during the game. According to Newsome, that extends to the entire Browns secondary. To him, that says a lot about Pickens and the Steelers wide receiver room as a whole.

Longer form of #Browns CB Greg Newsome responding to #Steelers George Pickens "I don't even know who that is" comment... pic.twitter.com/9Z02GqszWG
— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) December 6, 2024

"That was the craziest part," said Newsome. "They weren't really talking during the game. I feel like that kind of shows you a thing of respect. When the team doesn't really talk to you during the game, that means they kind of respect what you're doing. So all the antics and stuff was after the game. He wasn't really saying too much during the game."

Newsome would prefer the opposite.

"We're all competitors," he said. "If you got to go on Twitter to talk about a player, that kind of just shows you exactly what it is. So definitely [prefer he'd say it to my face]."

The exchanging of barbs just days before the two teams square off sets the stage for what should be an entertaining AFC North brawl this weekend. Even if it involves a 3-9 Browns team without much to play for. This game still matters though. And with a little extra fuel added to the fire, Newsome expects his team be supremely motivated in time for kickoff, while keeping its emotions in check.

"I'm an ultimate professional, so it's easy for me," Newsome said of not letting the smack talking spill over on the field. "I mean, a guy like him, it's obviously hard. That happened our game, he got two more penalties the next game, so that's just a trend that he does. But me, I'm a professional so I would never let somebody make me do something to hurt my football team."