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Ryan Clark Identifies Person George Pickens Let Down the Most in Quiet Game vs. Lions

Pickens caught five passes for 37 yards, a stark drop in his usual production.

Kyle Koster

George Pickens had a relatively quiet night in Cowboys' loss to Lions.
George Pickens had a relatively quiet night in Cowboys' loss to Lions. / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
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When CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys' top wide receiver, had to exit a must-win Thursday Night Football showcase against the Lions, everyone turned their eyes in the direction of George Pickens. The former Steelers target was brought in to form a formidable 1-2 punch with Lamb and to this point of the season has delivered with great consistency.

But he was hard to find down the stretch as Dak Prescott's offense simply could not keep pace with the Lions in a 44-30 loss.

Pickens finished with five catches for 37 yards and his effort drew some criticism after some less-than-crisp routes. Richard Sherman torched him on the postgame show, alleging that Pickens was disengaged and looked uninterested. Pickens himself said the outcome was unacceptable but that does little to stop the next day's takes.

Ryan Clark, on Get Up Friday morning, shared his perspective on Pickens not being able to step up and the chatter around his level of exertion.

"George Pickens knows that people are watching him just to see these things," Clark said. "And I'm not going to question his football character here, I'm going to question his awareness."

"If I'm George Pickens and I know that I am ultimately talented, top-five talented and all that they ask for me is effort, you're going to have to stop me from running. George Pickens let himself down more than anything last night."

It's never a good sign for someone when the conversation morphs into some form of not being mad, just being disappointed. And it's extremely easy to say hey, just run hard. If everyone did it, there would never be any controversy or call-outs.

Pickens has been good this year. Yet part of the package the Cowboys had to know they were getting with him was the possibility he'd be involved in these discussions.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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