Will George Pickens be suspended? Steelers star under fire for postgame scuffle, NSFW eye tape

Teddy Ricketson

•
Will George Pickens be suspended? Steelers star under fire for postgame scuffle, NSFW eye tape image

Week 5's "Sunday Night Football" matchup between the Cowboys and Steelers was delayed an hour and a half due to lightning in the area. The game wrapped up around 1 a.m. ET, so there's a chance viewers may have missed some key storylines from late in that game.

Justin Fields looked like he may not be the answer, and the broadcast booth hinted that Russell Wilson could be named the starter again soon. But the more notable takeaway on the Pittsburgh side of the ball involves wideout George Pickens. 

The wide receiver went viral on social media for his unique choice of eye tape message and then disappeared for much of the game on the stat sheet. When the game ended, Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis seemed to taunt Pickens, who didn't take kindly to it. 

Here are the latest updates on what happened and if Pickens could be suspended by the NFL. 

NFL HQ: Live NFL scores | Updated NFL standings | Full NFL schedule

George Pickens-Jourdan Lewis beef, explained

It was a rough night for the Steelers offense as a whole. They couldn't establish the run and Fields didn't utilize his legs as much as usual. He also had a tough time throwing the ball.

Pickens, who has made some incredible plays over his career, was a non-factor in the game. He finished with three receptions for 26 yards on seven targets. A combination of things led to those struggles, and the eye tape probably emboldened Lewis to talk more smack.

That's exactly what happened. The clock hit 0:00, the Cowboys had won and Lewis decided to chirp at Pickens. The wide receiver responded by grabbing Lewis' facemask and throwing him to the ground without breaking stride. 

Lewis got up off the field and tried to get in Pickens' face again, but was restrained by the referee as some other Steelers wide receivers came over. Both players were in the wrong, as Lewis shouldn't have been taunting and Pickens shouldn't have reacted that way.

Lewis kept it going after the run-in, calling out Pickens on his way to the locker room, saying the Pittsburgh pass-catcher was "weak."

WEEK 6 FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers

George Pickens NSFW eye tape, explained

If you have the drive to make it to the NFL, you have to think that you're better than everyone else. You have to believe that you're a game changer to ensure that you play like one. Pickens didn't have to deal with a lot of losing in college at the University of Georgia, and he clearly has that mentality, which can border on cockiness. 

Fans have seen Pickens get frustrated many times before, whether it was not getting targeted when he felt he was open or not blocking on a run play because he didn't like the play call.

Pickens had a great game in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts. He brought in seven of his 11 targets for 113 yards. After that performance, it makes sense that Pickens would think he should get the ball more. He decided to let his quarterback know this by donning some NSFW eye tape that read "Open F–ing Always," though he didn't censor it. 

Pickens finished the night with only 26 yards and brought in less than half of his targets.

The NFL is reviewing Pickens' eye black, per ESPN staff writer Brooke Pryor. They will determine if he will be fined over a violation of the league's uniform policy which states that players are prohibited from "wearing, displaying, or otherwise conveying personal messages in writing or illustration" in Rule 5, Section 4, Article 8.

Any fine will be issued on Saturday, ahead of Pittsburgh's Week 6 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Will George Pickens be suspended?

Pickens will likely be fined by the NFL, but a suspension could be unlikely. That might disappoint some fans on X — formerly Twitter — who are largely calling for a one-game suspension of the Pittsburgh wide receiver. Those calls are mostly the result of Pickens' postgame actions.

It did look like Lewis was saying something while running down the field and wasn't going to stop and address Pickens directly. After Pickens got involved, the NFL could punish him to set a precedent that it won't tolerate physical postgame altercations. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Pickens get fined when the NFL releases punishments Saturday.

George Pickens snap count, explained

Pickens did have seven targets, but he was notably not on the field for much of the offensive snaps. He played only 34 of his team's 58 offensive snaps, or 59 percent of plays. Wide receiver Van Jefferson played 47 and Calvin Austin played 44. 

When asked about it during his post-game conference head coach Mike Tomlin gave a vague answer. He said the team, "Wanted to kind of minimize his reps in an effort to get more productivity." Tomlin likely means that were resting Pickens to make sure when they needed him he could produce, but that's not what happened on the field.

This was also a game that they lost and the Steelers don't have a viable WR2 on the team. Tomlin said it was just "snap management" and there "is no underlying story to be quite honest with you." 

Pickens didn't help his case at times Sunday, as he was spotted basically walking through a route. Tomlin said Pickens' lack of snaps wasn't due to anything in particular, though it remains a storyline worth watching ahead of Week 6. 

Teddy Ricketson

Teddy Ricketson Photo

Teddy Ricketson is a Digital Content Producer at The Sporting News. He joined the team in 2024 after spending the last three years writing for Vox Media as part of its DK Nation/Network team. Teddy does his best to support the South Carolina Gamecocks and Carolina Panthers, but tends to have more fun cheering on the Atlanta Braves. In his free time, he loves spending time with his wife, Brooke, and their two dogs, Bo and Hootie.