{"id":300796,"date":"2023-12-20T00:53:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T00:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?p=300796"},"modified":"2023-12-20T00:53:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T00:53:59","slug":"steelers-wr-george-pickens-on-not-blocking-on-run-play-saturday-i-didnt-want-to-get-injured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/nfl\/steelers-wr-george-pickens-on-not-blocking-on-run-play-saturday-i-didnt-want-to-get-injured\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers WR George Pickens on not blocking on run play Saturday: &#x27;I didn&#x27;t want to get injured&#x27;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sprinting toward the end zone Saturday, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren was stopped a yard short of six by a trio of Indianapolis Colts defenders.<\/p>\n<p>To Warren&#8217;s left, Steelers wide receiver George Pickens watched, little more than a spectator before he jumped up and over a rolling Colts defender.<\/p>\n<p>Pickens&#8217; reluctance to attempt to throw a block has drawn the ire of pundits and fans since the Steelers&#8217; 30-13 loss.<\/p>\n<p>His explanation Tuesday isn&#8217;t likely to bring about an avalanche of goodwill.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t want to get injured,&#8221; Pickens said Tuesday, via Triblive\u2019s Joe Rutter. &#8220;When you stay in and block somebody, you can get run on very easily.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In particular, Pickens cited Houston Texans rookie receiver Tank Dell\u00a0sustaining a season-ending broken fibula earlier this season when he was rolled up on while blocking.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was trying to prevent the Tank Dell situation, the same thing that happened to Tank Dell,&#8221; Pickens said, via 93.7 The Fan. &#8220;You stay and block too long you can get run up on very easily.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>          <span>            Related Links          <\/span>        <\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>              NFL playoff picture: Postseason probabilities entering Week 16 of 2023 season            <\/li>\n<li>              Bengals HC Zac Taylor says Ja&#x27;Marr Chase (shoulder) not ruled out for Week 16            <\/li>\n<li>              2023 NFL season, Week 15: What We Learned from Saturday&#x27;s tripleheader            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Steelers eventually scored after Warren&#8217;s run came up short of pay dirt, but Pickens being a bystander on the play hasn&#8217;t aged well in the days since.<\/p>\n<p>Amid an arduous campaign for Pickens and the Steelers, who have now lost three straight to drop to 7-7, the second-year wideout pinned the criticism for a seemingly obvious lack of determination on media members who don&#8217;t play the game making a big deal out of it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They don&#8217;t play football,&#8221; he said, via Rutter. &#8220;They do what you all do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As a rookie, Pickens picked up 52 receptions for 801 yards and four touchdowns in 17 games. Though it hardly feels like it, he&#8217;s already essentially reached his first-year numbers through 14 games, having recorded 52 catches, 814 yards and three TDs.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, it&#8217;s been a trying season for the Steelers as a whole, but notably a struggling offense that&#8217;s 28th in points scored and 27th in yards. Pickens had two catches for minus-1 yard in a Week 9 win over the Titans that led to him sharing a post on social media that read, &#8220;free me.&#8221; Now he&#8217;s back in the spotlight for unfortunate reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Prognosticated by most to break out in 2023, Pickens has hardly done that. Instead he&#8217;s furthered a narrative that existed prior to the Steelers selecting him in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He was viewed by some as the best wideout in the &#8217;22 class, but he dropped due to injury and character concerns.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s aimed to overcome those pre-draft notions, but cited the media once again as the reason he&#8217;s still battling for his reputation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just feel like the reason I would be still fighting cause it a lot guys that&#8217;s not playing the ball, not playing the game of football,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s just media guys having an opinion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As of now, Pickens avoided injury and a downfield block, but the media scrutiny isn&#8217;t likely to let up.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/steelers-wr-george-pickens-on-not-blocking-on-run-play-saturday-i-didn-t-want-to\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sprinting toward the end zone Saturday, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren was stopped a yard short of six by a trio of Indianapolis Colts defenders. To Warren&#8217;s left, Steelers wide receiver George Pickens watched, little more than a spectator before he&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300795,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Steelers WR George Pickens on not blocking on run play Saturday: &#x27;I didn&#x27;t want to get injured&#x27; - Sports-Life-News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/nfl\/steelers-wr-george-pickens-on-not-blocking-on-run-play-saturday-i-didnt-want-to-get-injured\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Steelers WR George Pickens on not blocking on run play Saturday: &#x27;I didn&#x27;t want to get injured&#x27; - Sports-Life-News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sprinting toward the end zone Saturday, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren was stopped a yard short of six by a trio of Indianapolis Colts defenders. 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