Dak Prescott finally breaks his silence on George Pickens’ slump, sparking the first real wave of backlash the young star has faced in Dallas.QQ
George Pickens is facing criticism due to his effort on Thursday Night Football.
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens entered Week 14 atop of the NFL world. His work through 13 weeks made him a legit OPOY candidate, and there’s little to no doubt he will wind up signing a big-time deal within the next two years.
But on a must-win Thursday Night Football, Pickens failed to make an impact despite being targeted nine times. His final stat line: Five catches for 37 yards. And though the numbers are underwhelming considering CeeDee Lamb was ruled out with a concussion early in the second half, the film might be even more so.
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Pickens, who up to this point had done a great job burying the narratives he carried from his days in Pittsburgh, surprisingly showed questionable effort in key moments. Late in the game, Pickens appeared to have a chance to catch a deep pass from Dak Prescott, but he decided not to even extend his hands. At another point, Pickens ran a route at half-speed.
Postgame, former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman had strong words about the Cowboys’ WR in the NFL on Prime broadcast, saying Pickens “can’t be the guy to half-ass it” in a game of this magnitude.
Dak Prescott admits Pickens didn’t have his best game vs. Lions
Though it is too early to overreact to Pickens’ effort, given his high effort for most of the year, Prescott didn’t shy away from being honest about his receiver’s game.
“I’m sure George would tell you it wasn’t his best game,” Prescott told reporters postgame. “And when CeeDee (Lamb) got out of the game, I told him he needed to step up. He made some catches, he made the catch right there to put us down there at the one on the fourth down. He made some plays. Now, to George’s standard, that’s tough. When you’re playing the way that he’s played, when you’re the type of player that he is, I’ll be the first to say, it’s hard to do that week in and week out.
“But I think George can, I know George believes he can, and I think that he would just say that this game wasn’t up to his standard,” Prescott added. “And I’m sure he’ll own it, and I know he’ll be better.”
When asked about the difficulty connecting with Pickens Thursday night, Prescott described the issue as “self-inflicted.”
I don’t think anyone doubts Pickens can be better. Unfortunately, the Cowboys didn’t have a large margin for error going into this one. After the loss, their playoff chances sit below 10%, and even finishing the season 4-0 would likely be insufficient to punch a ticket into the postseason.
