Following the Steelers’ Week 14 victory, more details surrounding head coach Mike Tomlin’s decision to sit wide receiver George Pickens are beginning to emerge, starting with the moment Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth found out about the situation.
ESPN reporter Brooke Pryor wrote an interesting article highlighting the moment Freiermuth discovered his team would be without their best playmaker on offense, which actually left more questions than answers regarding Pickens’ availability in Week 14.
Pickens popped up on Friday’s injury report as limited with a hamstring injury. However, it was expected that Pickens would be healthy enough to play, and his inactive designation surprised everyone—including Freiermuth, who reportedly found out through the most unlikely of all sources: his father.
Pat Freiermuth found out George Pickens was going to be inactive in a pregame text from his dad.
“I was like, ‘ok, here we go.’ Thanks, dad.”
But even with late notice of a surprise inactive, the Steelers offense put up 27 points in a get-right win. https://t.co/s4e2TAc5de
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) December 9, 2024
Luckily for Tomlin and his strange decision to make Pickens inactive, the Steelers’ offense managed to score 27 points on the Cleveland Browns’ defense. Gameday roster decisions are likely above Freiermuth’s pay grade, but providing the offense with details surrounding the team’s star player should have been on Tomlin’s checklist for the day.
