Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens appears to be expressing his frustration on social media regarding his role in the team’s offense.
Last week, Pickens posted a message on his Instagram story that read, “Free me.” This came after a game against the Titans in which he only caught two passes for -1 yards, following a game with just one catch in a loss to the Jaguars the previous week.
During the Titans game, he missed a potential touchdown opportunity when he failed to keep his foot in the endzone after making a catch.
Pickens’ social media activity didn’t end with the “Free Me” post, which he quickly deleted. He also removed several other posts related to the Steelers from his account.
Notably, Pickens appeared to unfollow everyone associated with the Steelers, including quarterback Kenny Pickett, coach Mike Tomlin, and the team’s official Instagram account. He even changed his profile picture to one from his high school days, removing any reference to the Steelers.
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When asked about George Pickens’ recent social media actions, including the “Free Me” post and unfollowing QB Kenny Pickett, the Steelers team, and Coach Tomlin on Instagram, Coach Mike Tomlin addressed the situation.
Tomlin said: “It is a pebble in my shoe.”
“I know it’s a cute story for you guys, but it is a pebble in my shoe, to be quite honest with you, in terms of the things that I have to do in an effort to get this group ready to play this week. Our focus is on the Green Bay Packers and what we’re all going to do in this football game, and I can’t state it any plainer than that. It’s like reality television, the way you guys follow social media and write stories about it.”
While Pickens has caught 30 passes for 521 yards and three touchdowns this season, he had higher expectations for his performance coming into the season. The challenge is that his quarterback, Kenny Pickett, often throws for less than 250 yards in a game, making it more difficult for the receivers to accumulate significant yardage.
