Steelers receiver George Pickens, after a lengthy visit to manager Mike Tomlin’s office, tried to tell reporters Wednesday that he wasn’t upset or frustrated last week during and after Thursday night’s win over the Giants, and that his decision to strip all references to the Steelers from his Instagram page doesn’t… It has something to do with football.
Two of his colleagues didn’t get the “quiet now” memo.
Via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com Both Najee Harris and receiver Diontae Johnson made comments to reporters on Wednesday that confirm this basic hypothesis that George was indeed upset.
“I used to say to the general practitioner, ‘It’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with feeling down,’ It’s the way you deal with thingsHarris said. “He’s obviously a talented guy. Teams will do things to diminish him. But I was just telling him in the middle of the game as well that you’ve got to keep your composure.”
“I had a good conversation with him,” Johnson said. “He understood, and I understood where he was coming from, too. Nobody’s perfect. You can’t hit him. At the same time, he’s a human being, so I didn’t think much about the situation. I know the reason for that – frustration with the game, of course. . . . So, he does what he does.” He did, yes, there was a better way to handle 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 it all.
Johnson said he waited until Monday to address the situation with Pickens.
“I broke it off with him,” Johnson said. “I kind of told him what to do next time or not put that stuff out there. You don’t want people creating a story about you. He understands.”
He definitely understands. So much so that he was willing to deny that there was a problem at all, even though it clearly existed.
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