It only took one week for former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens to come under fire with the Dallas Cowboys .
Pickens had three catches for 30 yards in the Cowboys' season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles last week. He also had a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on a block that wiped out a nice Dallas play.
But there were also criticism of Pickens' effort on route where he wasn't getting the ball, including a would-be touchdown to Jake Ferguson that was broken up, albeit illegally, because Eagles safety Reed Blankenship was able to ignore the threat of Pickens and break toward the tight end.
The play was similar to one in Pittsburgh in December , when Russell Wilson said he was expecting Pickens to "go vertical" on a play that Wilson threw an interception against the Kansas City Chiefs .
On Wednesday, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer was already asked if he's concerned about Pickens' effort level. The first-year head coach backed his new wide receiver's play so far.
"Absolutely not," Schottenheimer said when asked if he had concerns about his effort level. "I wish we would have gotten him more targets, honestly. I thought they did a good job taking him away. Listen, I'm the biggest George Pickens fan in the world. As a teammate, the way he plays the game, he plays the game the way we want everyone to play — on the edge but not over the edge."
In terms of the penalty, Schottenheimer did acknowledge that Pickens was over the line.
"You can't hurt the team," he said. "I love the physicality that George plays with, but all of us, we can't do, really I'll say it this way: you can't do stupid shit. I'm not saying that was the only stupid thing we did. But things that hurt the team like that, you can't do that, especially in the red zone. So you point it out, you coach it. At the end of the day, it's stuff that comes to a close game, it can hurt your ability to win."
Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt and wide receiver George Pickens talk on the sideline during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 1, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Pickens acknowledged that he was in the wrong on the penalty, and said he wasn't bothered by the lack of targets in the game — his three catches came on just four opportunities. He drew a defensive pass interference penalty on the other.
"I'm not really worried about the touches, catches, all that stuff," he said. "I'm just trying to stay open for the team. I'm trying to focus on the first win."
The Cowboys will face Pickens' former quarterback, Wilson, with the New York Giants , in Week 2 on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Cowboys Coach Defends George Pickens' Effort vs Eagles
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