While it might seem like Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens isn't happy with the team right now, he does appear to have a strong relationship with head coach Mike Tomlin based on recent comments.
Pickens was recently a guest on "The Adam Schefter Podcast" (we would assume this was recorded before Week 5) and had nothing but great things to say about Tomlin.
Not only did Pickens praise Tomlin as "one of, if not the greatest head coach" he has ever been around, the 2022 second-round pick also noted how Tomlin gives great advice.
"He's probably one of, if not the greatest coach I've ever been around, or in the NFL, in my eyes" he said of Tomlin. "Just because his mentality, how the way he thinks of things. You guys probably hear all the phrases he says all the time, but those are real true things that uphold to life, if you really get what he's saying. Just overall, he's a life person more than he is a coach, so that really helps a lot."
Tomlin is well known for his phrases he uses when speaking to the media, and that's something he uses with his players, also. Pickens recalled one in particular that has stayed with him.
"My rookie year, he used to say, 'cut you eyelids off,'" Pickens revealed. "That might sound crazy, but in terms of everything, when you go out to a game, cut your eyelids off. Do your detail, just focus on yourself... cut the noise out, don't think about everything else that's going on. That kind of portrays in life, too."
As much as Pickens may love and respect his head coach in general, he may not be too happy with Tomlin after Week 5, when Pickens finished third on the team in snaps and routes run behind Calvin Austin and Van Jefferson.
Tomlin explained that it was because of "snap management" and the goal is to get increased productivity from the wide receiver, which was a strange explanation considering Pickens played a season-high 60 snaps the week prior and tallied a season-best 113 yards on seven catches.
Hopefully the Steelers can hash things out with Pickens moving forward, because Pittsburgh's struggling offense can ill-afford to not have its best player on the field as much as possible.
