Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe did not hold back on Mike Tomlin and George Pickens on the Nightcap podcast with former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson.
Pickens had an embarrassing performance in Saturday night’s lackluster loss to the Bengals, as he finished the game with one catch on six targets for zero yards. He also had three drops.
George Pickens needed to bounce back after a subpar performance against the Kansas City Chiefs where he quit on a route on Russell Wilson’s crucial red zone interception, and he dramatically fell short.
Sharpe thinks Tomlin’s enabling of Pickens’ malcontent behavior is a big problem, so that’s why he enjoyed watching the downfall on Saturday night.
“I love when they punish bad behavior. They punish George Pickens tonight. And I love it. Yes, sir. And I’ve been telling you from day one. I say, you know what, Mike Tomlin, you condone George Pickens’ behavior. You tolerate things in a win you never would in a loss,” Sharpe said. “I don’t believe you can win with him. I want somebody else to win. I want him to grow with somebody else. Because that behavior, his play don’t overcompensate his behavior.”
Tomlin revealed last week that Pickens’ route running “had zero” to do with Wilson’s crucial red zone interception against the Chiefs. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens and Sharpe all disagreed with that assessment, however.
“Pickens is going to have to stop being so emotional on every play,” Sharpe said on the Nightcap podcast last week. “Every play he doesn’t get the ball, like oh my goodness, oh Lord, have mercy. I know he’s a phenomenal talent, the difficulty of the catches that he makes on a consistent basis, but if he were to channel a lot of that energy, I don’t think he realize just how good he can be. I don’t think he realizes he got special abilities.”
Pickens was talking trash to Steelers fans in the stands at one point during Saturday night’s game. It appeared that his head wasn’t in the game. J.J. Watt thinks something is clearly off with Pickens.
“I think especially after last night’s game, it’s clearly there’s something going on,” Watt said on CBS Sports’ Other Pregame Show. “Whether it’s not being on the same page, whatever it may be. But I do know they need to get the deal figured out ASAP if they’re gonna have any chance in the playoffs.”
Pickens’ malcontent behavior has been an issue dating back to college at Georgia. It was on all the scouting reports, and that issue hasn’t been corrected. To Tomlin’s credit, he did publicly call Pickens out this season and said he needs to “grow up.” It appears that message hasn’t registered.
Pickens is entering his final season on his contract, so it will be interesting if a trade is made this offseason. The team could be at crossroads with the highly-talented but also inconsistent and unpredictable wide receiver.
