Diontae Johnson's Advice to Steelers Rookie George Pickens
PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie wide receiver George Pickens has made headlines for a story he isn't looking to be painted in the wrong light.
After a slow game in Week 13, catching just one pass for two yards, Pickens was caught by TV cameras screaming "throw me the [explicit] ball" as he ran off to the sideline. When asked about it, head coach Mike Tomlin supported the passion, but acknowledged Pickens could learn to do it in a professional manner.
"I'd rather say woah than sick ‘em," Tomlin said. "I want a guy that wants to be a significant part of what it is that we do. Now the appropriate and professional and mature way to express that, we're growing and working on, and we will continue. But that spirit, that competitive spirit, the guy that wants the ball, I want that guy."
During games, players like Diontae Johnson, Kenny Pickett and Cam Heyward have all spent time with Pickens, giving them their advice on how to handle down games.
"Keep playing. Always stay ready. You never know when the ball is going to come your way," Johnson said his advice to Pickens was. "The minute you put that in your head, 'I'm not getting the ball, I'm not getting enough targets,' that's when you start to focus on the wrong things, and you don't really be as locked should you be. And there's times when there's plays to be made and you ain't really all the way in, you're were about the last play, you were about not getting the ball. So it just really just focus on the right thing. Let things go. Stuffs gonna happen throughout the game whether you like it or not."
Pickens said no one has addressed him since the game and that he believes the video on the sideline was made bigger than it was.
"That's happened with like a lot of receivers I can name in the past, literally video clips," Pickens said. "It's only what you painted it out to be."
From the words of others around him, it doesn't seem to be an issue for the Steelers, either.
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