PITTSBURGH – A hamstring injury managed to do the one thing to George Pickens that nobody else has during the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver's three eventful years in the NFL, Pickens included.
It kept him quiet. Temporarily anyway.
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Pickens missed the first game of his career on Sunday, watching from the sideline in Pittsburgh's 27-14 win over Cleveland that showcased the team's receivers group runs deeper than the unit's talented if occasionally petulant star.
Instead of a reunion with Browns defensive back Greg Newsome II just over two weeks after the two spent the final play of Cleveland's victory on Nov. 21 pushing and shoving into a restraining wall — which led to a war of words between the two in the aftermath and run-up to the rematch — Pickens watched from the sideline as the players who have taken a back seat stepped to the forefront.
Van Jefferson caught one of Russell Wilson's two touchdown passes. Mike Williams made his first grab in a month. Scotty Miller saw his most extensive playing time since September.
None of them have Pickens' ability. For an afternoon anyway, they made sure it didn't matter as the Steelers (10-3) won comfortably as Wilson spread his 15 completions to eight players, a democratic approach that is becoming the norm.
“Just knowing that it can come to you at any moment is a fun feeling as a playmaker,” said Miller, who had three catches for 38 yards, including a leaping sideline grab in the fourth quarter. “And it also means the defense can't focus on one player. They’ve got to guard all of (us).”
Even if Pickens' absence came as a bit of a surprise, even to his teammates. Tight end Pat Freiermuth found out when he checked his phone in the locker room. His father had sent him a text message that Pittsburgh's leading receiver was out with a hamstring issue that forced him to miss practice Friday.
After a shaky start in which the offense looked out of sorts — the Steelers had four three-and-outs in their first five drives — Wilson settled in and the players who have found themselves on the fringes of the depth chart were on the field in important moments.
“We have so much confidence in everybody,” Wilson said. “We're having fun, enjoying the process, working our tails off every day.”
And they're winning, one of the major reasons that it has been easier for Williams to stomach the fact he has become a role player for the first time in his career. His first catch with Pittsburgh just days after being acquired from the New York Jets was an over-the-shoulder game-winning touchdown grab in Washington.
Yet Williams has served as a spectator or a blocker for most of the last month. He has tried to stay ready, and it showed when he made a leaping one-handed snag in the third quarter for a 20-yard gain that set up Wilson's touchdown pass to Freiermuth.
“They was (winning) before I got here,” Williams said. “So for me, I just got to show up and when I need to come out and make a play, make a play.”
It's a selfless approach that has permeated the offense during a season in which the Steelers (10-3) have surprised everyone but themselves.
“The strength of the pack is the pack," Tomlin said. “We've got a bunch of guys that want to be the reasons why we're successful.”
The supremely confident Pickens is part of that pack, though he often stands apart for a variety of reasons, not all of them good.
Pickens has found himself in the spotlight regularly since being taken in the second round in 2022, not always for the right reasons.
Tomlin has grown weary recently of fielding questions about Pickens’ actions. Tomlin said after a victory over Cincinnati that Pickens needs to “grow up, and grow up in a hurry” after Pickens drew a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against the Bengals for post-catch celebrations, actions that earned him another set of fines from the league.
Still, Pickens figured to be in the lineup on Sunday even after being listed as “questionable” on Friday's practice report. When the team made him inactive, it caught the Browns a little off guard.
“I was a little surprised,” Newsome said. “I mean, especially when you do a lot of back-and-forth talking and things like that.”
Pittsburgh's offense found a way anyway. And the Steelers did it drama-free for once.
“We believe in our group,” Tomlin said. “I know I've said that to you guys repeatedly. Maybe you'll start believing me.”
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