Steelers Teammates Support George Pickens After Social Media Outburst

Multiple members of the Pittsburgh Steelers have made comments this week about wide receiver George Pickens, who expressed vague frustrations on social media after the team’s win Thursday.

Pickens said Tuesday that he did not intend to insult the team and was not referring to his frustrations through social media.

But after catching two passes for -1 yards Thursday, Pickens scrubbed his Instagram page of all mentions of the Steelers, posted a story saying “Free Me,” and may have unfollowed multiple team members.

Though head coach Mike Tomlin largely dismissed the incident, calling it a “pebble in his shoe,” other teammates have been more communicative with Pickens.

Pittsburgh receiver Diontae Johnson said he spoke to Pickens, claiming that they came to an agreement and will move forward. Pickens has lost work since Johnson returned from injury, returning to his role as the team’s deep threat. He had a chance to catch a touchdown Thursday but failed to get both feet in bounds.

“I had a good talk with him,” Johnson said. “He understood, and I understood where he was coming from, as well. Nobody’s perfect. You can’t knock him. At the same time, he’s human, so I didn’t think too much about the situation. I know what it was from — frustration from the game, obviously … So, him doing what he did, yeah, there’s a better way to go about certain situations. But he felt like he had to handle it his way, but at the same time, it wasn’t the right time to do all that.”

Steelers running back Najee Harris echoed Johnson’s comments, validating Pickens’ frustrations to an extent. He referred to a conversation he had with the receiver during halftime Thursday.

“I was telling GP, it’s ok, there’s nothing wrong with being frustrated, it’s just how you handle things,” Harris said. “Obviously, he’s a talented guy. Teams are going to do things to minimize him. But I was just telling him in the middle of the game too that you got to keep your composure.”