The Pittsburgh Steelers' first team opened up Thursday's training camp practice with a go route for receiver George Pickens. If George Pickens is right, it's something that Steelers' fans will see more of during the 2023 NFL season.

The Steelers' offense, in particular Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Matt Canada, has been criticized for being too conservative. Maybe Pickens will be part of an offense that takes more shots down than field than usual this year.

“That’s more of an explosive hint,” Pickens said, via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, when talking about the deep ball attempt at training camp. “Like, we’re gonna probably take more shots this year. Try to mix it up a little bit.”

Among quarterbacks who made at least five starts last season, Kenny Pickett finished dead last with 6.2 yards per attempt. The Steelers' quarterback finished with more interceptions than passing touchdowns, but he showed plenty of promise by winning the last five starts that he didn't exit early with an injury. Pickett could take another step forward in 2023 if he's allowed to take some more chances down the field.

Pickett has some talent at wide receiver. Pickens finished fourth among rookies in 2022 with 801 receiving yards. Diontae Johnson is only two seasons removed from catching 107 passes for 1,161 yards. Allen Robinson joined the Steelers in the offseason.

Pittsburgh ranked 26th in scoring last year with 18.1 points per game. It didn't stop the Steelers from going 9-8, extending their streak to 19 years without a losing season.

The Steelers last won a playoff game in the 2016 season.