On Saturday, the Pittsburgh Steelers took a tough divisional loss to the Baltimore Ravens, putting their chances of winning the AFC North on hold for the time being. It wasn't a great game for Russell Wilson, whose second half pick six essentially ended any chances of a Steelers comeback, and a large part of the reason why was that he was operating without the services of his best wide receiver George Pickens, who missed the contest due to injury.
On Sunday, head coach Mike Tomlin gave an update on several key players who missed the contest vs the Ravens, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN.
“Some guys that didn't play yesterday who have a real chance this week: Justin Fields, DeShon Elliott, Donte Jackson, George Pickens and Larry Ogunjobi all have an opportunity to play this week,” Tomlin said. “But again, we'll see what the week leads us from their inclusion.”
Tomlin also spoke on what the team is missing when Pickens is out of the lineup.
“He is a splash playmaker,” Tomlin said. “He's a one-on-one playmaker. Oftentimes he controls schematics which creates one-on-ones for others or a light box regarding the run, but that's what talented outside people do. Not only George, but anybody that has talented outside people like [Chiefs WR Xavier] Worthy will do some of the same things to us.”
Indeed, Pickens has turned himself into one of the NFL's elite wide receivers in a short period of time for the Steelers, finally having some competent QB play this year in the form of Russell Wilson and using that to have a breakout season.
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It would certainly be a benefit to have Pickens out there when they next take the field on Christmas Day vs the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at 1:00 PM ET.
