After Pittsburgh wide receiver George Pickens picked up two unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties in a 44-38 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said the former Hoover High School star needed "to grow up."
The NFL also has weighed in, announcing on Saturday that Pickens had been fined $10,231for each infraction. The NFL defined Pickens' transgressions as taunting for the first penalty and a violent gesture for the second.
On the first penalty, officials flagged Pickens for tossing the football at a defender. For the second, Pickens was penalized for making a finger-gun gesture.
After the game, Pickens said the officials misunderstood his first-down signal.
"I never want to hurt the team, and you never want to get penalties," Pickens said after the game. "I'm only out here just playing like every other receiver in the league. Certain calls don't go my way, all I can do is just keep playing."
Tomlin had a different point of view after the game.
"He's just got to grow up, man," Tomlin said. "It's an emotional game. These divisional games are big. He's got a target on his back because he's George. He understands that. But he's got to grow up. He's got to grow up in a hurry."
That might be put to the test on Sunday, when the Steelers play the Cleveland Browns. When the Browns defeated Pittsburgh 24-19 on Nov. 21, the game ended on a failed Hail Mary with Pickens and Cleveland cornerback Greg Newsome scrapping their way through the end zone and beyond.
After the game, Pickens said he didn't think "the Cleveland Browns are a good team at all" and credited their victory to the snow. In the other locker room, Newsome termed Pickens a "fake tough guy."
In advance of Sunday's game, Pickens was asked about a rematch with Newsome.
"I don't even know who that is," Pickens said.
On Friday, Newsome said he won't let Pickens get under his skin.
"I'm all about the team," Newsome said. "Obviously, he's a guy that cares more about himself, and you can see that in the penalties he causes. For me, my job is to try and do whatever I can to help the team win. There's never going to be no one-on-one battle for me. My battle is to try and help my team get the win. He does that type of stuff all the time. There will never be a man that could fuel me in any type of way."
At Hoover, Pickens earned All-State recognition in 2017 and 2018 and was an Under Armour All-American as a senior. In Pickens' first All-State season, the Bucs won their second AHSAA Class 7A championship in a row.
Pickens joined Pittsburgh from Georgia in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. After recording 52 receptions for 801 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie, he had 63 receptions for 1,140 yards and five touchdowns in 2023, when he led the NFL with an average of 18.1 yards per reception.
This season, Pickens ranks as the Steelers' top receiver with 55 receptions for 850 yards and three touchdowns.
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