Steelers WR George Pickens denies being frustrated with reduced targets

George Pickens was in a state of denial Wednesday afternoon.

He denied being upset with the dwindling number of targets he has received the past two games.

He denied briefly removing references to the Pittsburgh Steelers from his Instagram page because of any dissatisfaction with his employer.

He also denied pouting after fellow wide receiver Diontae Johnson’s touchdown catch gave the Steelers the lead with about four minutes remaining in their 20-16 victory Thursday against the Tennessee Titans.

“I’m rarely frustrated,” Pickens said during his media availability, the first time he spoke with reporters since he caught two passes for minus-1 yard six days earlier. “I just want to get the victory, to be honest.”

Pickens’ actions, however, told a different tale during and after the Steelers’ victory that gave them a 5-3 record heading into their game Sunday against the Green Bay Packers (3-5).

When Johnson caught the go-ahead touchdown pass — his first score in 655 days — Pickens was shown turning and heading to the bench while the rest of his teammates gathered to celebrate.

“I was just getting back to the sideline,” he said. “His touchdown engineered the victory. So, I don’t know how I could be mad at that.”

Cameras also showed Pickens sitting on the bench while players and coaches approached him apparently to provide encouragement. Pickens left the field immediately after the game ended and reportedly was one of the first players out of the locker room.

Again, Pickens stressed he wasn’t miffed about being limited to a season-low five targets for the second game in a row.

“No, we got the victory,” he said. “Tae got a touchdown. We just engineered the victory. That’s all. I was happy, if anything.”

Pickens also had an explanation for why he scrubbed all references to the Steelers from his Instagram account on Friday. He restored his page to its original settings less than 24 hours later.

“Just cleaning up my page,” he said. “Nothing really too crazy. It got nothing to do with the Steelers at all.”

And his “free me” reference on his Instagram story had nothing to do with the Steelers, either, he maintained.

“I don’t really mix social media and football together,” he said.

Teammates thought otherwise, which is why Johnson and running back Najee Harris each reached out to Pickens after the Steelers returned from their three-day break.

“I understood where he’s coming from,” Johnson said. “Nobody’s perfect. You can’t know him. He’s human. I didn’t think too much about the situation. I knew what it was from, the frustration from the game, obviously. Him doing what he did, there are better ways to go about certain situations.

“He felt he had it handled his way, but it wasn’t the right time to do it.”

Harris said he reached out to Pickens at halftime after the second-year receiver had three targets and one reception for 2 yards. Pickens lost 3 yards on his lone catch of the second half.

“Whenever you are a key player in the offense, (the opponent) is not going to let you blow up the stat sheet,” Harris said. “That’s something I think people fail to realize. They’re not going to be a game-wrecker. They are going to find ways to minimize you. When you minimize that player, it creates opportunity for others to eat.”

Johnson ate to the tune of seven catches, 90 yards and the winning touchdown. Since Johnson returned from injured reserve, he has benefited from Pickens receiving constant double teaming. The added attention Pickens has received also helped lighten the number of the players tasked with stopping the run, which aided the Steelers in rushing for a season-high 166 yards.

“If we continue to run the ball well and they move up in the box (to stop it), somebody is going to be singled out,” quarterback Kenny Pickett said.

Since every play begins with the ball in Pickett’s hands, he determines where it gets distributed. He understands Pickens’ desire to get more targets.

“He’s an unbelievable player, and we have to get him the football,” Pickett said. “If we leave him in the boundary, it’s a very easy place to get double-teamed, so we (need to) move him around, have him do some different things and not have him be a sitting target.”

Harris met with Pickens again Wednesday at practice to reiterate that brighter days await.

“It’s OK to be frustrated,” he said. “You’re young, (but) there is a better way to handle it. It’s nothing to make a big deal of. This is part of the sport. There are going to be ups and downs.”