Kenny Pickett, despite only being a rookie, feels like her has a pretty good grasp on the mentality of wide receivers.
“Competitors, man. Everyone wants the ball, everyone wants to win,” said Pickett following Wednesday’s practice.
But that competitive spirit does come with a line, and it’s one that, if crossed, could be viewed as a distraction.
And that’s how some view what has happened the last two weeks, when fellow rookie receiver George Pickens, in both the Monday night game against the Colts and this past Sunday’s game in Atlanta, appeared to have to be consoled by teammates on the sideline after his frustrations from a lack of targets boiled over.
“George is a competitor,” Pickett said. “That’s the thing about receivers, is that you only get so many opportunities. That’s why we have to definitely take advantage of the little ones we do get.”
Pickens was targeted twice Sunday, making one catch for two yards. He was caught be cameras, at one point, appear to yell out ‘throw me the (expletive) ball.’
Earlier Wednesday, Pickens addressed the media, seeming to blaming them for making too much out of the outburst. His comments echoed those of his head coach, Mike Tomlin, who called the media turning Pickens’ frustrations into a ‘negative’ were ‘silly’ and ‘BS.’
“I’d rather say woah than sick ‘em,” Tomlin said. “I want a guy that wants to be a significant part of what it is that we do.
“Now, the appropriate and professional and mature way to express that, we're growing and working on, and we will continue. But that spirit, that competitive spirit, the guy that wants the ball, I want that guy.”
Pickett was a little more level with his response, acknowledging that, at times, there will be games like what Pickens went through Sunday.
“You never know who is going to have that big game,” he said. “Sometimes it may not be you. One week it may be another guy and it kind of bounces around like that. That’s just kind of how it is depending on how the defense is and where they’re dictating me to go with the football.”
The films backs Pickett up — not that he’s necessarily disagreeing with the cause of Pickens’ agitation.
The Falcons, particularly in the first half, shaded a safety to Pickens’ side of the field. Atlanta made it a point to take away the big play from the rookie, and that opened up the run game for the Steelers, which have established a solid ground attack over the last five weeks.
Pickens is, without a doubt, a superb young talent. But talent does not necessarily equal success, and finding that ‘mature’ expression, as Tomlin mentioned, will be key as he fights the ups and downs of being a young receiver.
“We’ll continue to push forward, work and we’ll hit the ones down the field,” Pickett said. “And those guys will continue to make plays for us.”