Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens was called out for not blocking on one of Jaylen Warren's runs during the Steelers' 30-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Warren was running in the red zone when Pickens put in practically no effort to block a Colts defender that ended up tackling Warren down before the goal-line. Had Pickens put in effort, Warren might have had a chance at scoring.
Following the criticism, Pickens said he didn't try to block for Warren because he was trying to avoid the kind of injury Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell suffered.
“I was just trying to prevent the Tank Dell situation,” Pickens said Tuesday. “The same thing happened to Tank Dell. I didn’t want to get an injury. If you stay on the block too long, you can get ran up on very easily,” via Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Despite his reasoning, this was not a good look for Pickens, who has previously been criticized this season for his lack of effort. Jaylen Warren offered his own take after Picken's explanation.
“I see where he’s coming from,” Warren said. “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,” via Fittipaldo.
George Pickens has not displayed the team-player attitude the Steelers are looking for, especially by his lack of effort for Warren. It speaks volumes that Warren outright said he would have blocked for Pickens, but Pickens didn't reciprocate. This lack of effort and team-first attitude can explain why Pittsburgh has lost three straight and have fallen toward the bottom of the AFC playoff race.
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