Steelers receiver George Pickens has been under fire the last couple weeks due to a few instances when he seemed to be lacking effort on the field.
Pittsburgh plays one of its AFC North rivals, the Bengals, this weekend, so Cincinnati receiver Tyler Boyd was asked for his thoughts on the whole Pickens saga.
He didn’t seem to think too highly of Pickens’ apparent effort level on the field.
“It just shows the lack of camaraderie that’s over there,” Boyd told ESPN’s Ben Baby. “I can’t really talk for anybody, but like when things ain’t going well, you still gotta perform at a high level and do what you can to help your team.
“I done seen a clip with him ... on a pick, it kind of looked like he wasn’t trying to chase it down. See, I don’t go about that. That’s something that they gotta deal with. When things ain’t going good, that’s when your true colors show. I like to be the same player week in, week out, whether it’s going good or bad for me.”
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The most recent instance occurred last Saturday during Pittsburgh’s 30–13 loss to the Colts when Steelers running back Jaylen Warren was stopped just before the goal line. Pickens was standing near his teammate yet didn’t attempt to block any defenders.
Pickens told reporters Tuesday that he didn’t want to get injured in a similar situation that caused Texans receiver Tank Dell to suffer a season-ending leg injury.
The Steelers and Bengals play Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
