George Pickens got his first real taste of what happens when you let your emotions get the best of you in the NFL: The media puts you under a microscope and usually makes it a bigger deal than it needs to be.
From the negative body language during the Thursday Night Football game to Pickens removing all signs that he’s a Pittsburgh Steeler from his Instagram account on Saturday, he’s been the most written and talked about member of the Black and Gold.
His teammates are doing their part to help Pickens navigate what’s hopefully just a phase in his young career.
Najee Harris put it to Pickens this way: When defenses render you ineffective, another player shines.
“They’re not going to let you be a game-wrecker,” Harris told Steelers media via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor on Wednesday. “They’re going to find ways to minimize that player. And when you find ways to minimize that player, it creates somebody else’s opportunity to eat. And that’s the part of the team.”
Harris’s advice was to put things in perspective and be chill about it.
“I was telling GP, it’s OK, there’s nothing wrong with being frustrated, it’s just how you handle things. Obviously, he’s a talented guy. Teams are going to do things to minimize him. But I was just telling him in the middle of the game, too, that you got to keep your composure.”
Advice from Diontae Johnson, who knows a thing or two about frustrating games, had a similar tone.
“I had a good talk with him,” Johnson said. “He understood, and I understood where he was coming from, as well. Nobody’s perfect. You can’t knock him. At the same time, he’s human, so I didn’t think too much about the situation. I know what it was from — frustration from the game, obviously.
“So, him doing what he did, yeah, there’s a better way to go about certain situations. But he felt like he had to handle it his way, but at the same time, it wasn’t the right time to do all that.”
We’ll see if Harris and Johnson got through to him when Pittsburgh welcomes the Green Bay Packers to Acrisure on Sunday. According to NFL.com stats, their defense allows the sixth-fewest yards through the air, limiting quarterbacks to an average of 174 yards per game and eight total touchdowns.
