Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens struggled in Saturday's 19–17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, to say the least.
Pickens caught one pass out of six targets for zero yards. A couple of the passes thrown by quarterback Russell Wilson to Pickens could've possibly won the game for the Steelers, including a long pass thrown by Wilson with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter but Pickens couldn't get to the ball in time.
The controversial receiver, who has shown his emotions on and off the field this season, declined to speak with the media after the game. Wilson, however, shared a supportive message to Pickens during his media availability.
"I believe in George," Wilson said, via ESPN's Brooke Pryor. "Listen, everything's not always perfect for everyone. This is an imperfect game and everything else. I believe in George, I believe in who he is, the player that he is. He's been a star for us all season and he's going to be a difference-maker obviously for us in the playoffs. I'm looking forward to that, and what he can do, what we can do together. And I'm not blinking on George. If anybody believes in him, I definitely do."
This whole situation is interesting after Pickens had a tense moment with a reporter last week when asked about miscommunication with Wilson over an interception. There doesn't seem to be bad blood between the quarterback and receiver based on Wilson's comment above.
Even with Saturday's rough performance, Pickens finishes the regular season as the Steelers' top receiver with 59 catches for 900 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games.
The Steelers will enter the playoffs on a four-game losing streak. Pickens missed two of those losses as he dealt with a hamstring injury.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Russell Wilson Still 'Believes' in George Pickens After Rough Performance vs. Bengals.
