PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Fourth-year Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth said he’s respectful of the room, but understands the potential distraction George Pickens could be to this team. And while he’s not named a captain, he, Najee Harris and Dan Moore are the longest tenured Steelers on the offensive side.
Freiermuth was willing to address the situation on Wednesday.
“You got to be there for him as much as you can,” Freiermuth told reporters. “Understand where he is coming from. It’s not out of a bad place. He obviously wants to help us win as much as he can and he’s a great talent. We have to understand that and be there for him.”
Pickens was seen slouching on the bench after the Connor Heyward touchdown Sunday, later throwing his helmet and having his snaps limited against the Cowboys for ‘load management’.
“He needs to understand it’s a team sport, and he does,” Freiermuth said. “We’ve talked about that. He’s practicing hard. He’s doing all the right things.”
“He’s been in a great mood this week, so he understands what he needs to do. We all understand what we need to do as an offense.”
Freiermuth said he’s always felt like he’s been somewhat vocal around the team. Now with the team investing in him long-term, he feels like he has the right to speak up when issues arise.
“I think I’ve earned that right,” Freiermuth said. “I think that guys on offense respect me enough to do that. I’m always going to be respectful. I’m not going to do it in a way where it’s going to cause issues in the locker room.”
Just overall with the offense, Freiermuth and fellow tight end Heyward caught the only Steelers touchdowns Sunday. He said players understand what they need to do. They know they need explosive plays. They know they need faster starts.
“We’ve been preaching that for a couple of weeks now, since the start of the season,” Freiermuth said. “Stay on track quicker and convert on possession downs. I think we’ve been good at that at certain points. We just got to continue to build on that. We will be fine.”