George Pickens Had Blunt Quote on His Costly Penalties After Steelers' Win vs. Bengals

Kristen Wong | 2 Hours Ago

Screengrab on Twitter/ @C_AdamskiTrib

The talk of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday involved star wideout George Pickens, whose dramatic—and costly—on-field antics had fans riled up during the game.

In Pittsburgh’s 44–38 victory, Pickens was called for two unsportsmanlike penalties, one for taunting a Bengals defender and one for celebrating a first down by appearing to mimic finger guns.

Pickens addressed his controversial gun celebration in a postgame presser in which he explained that it was a mere miscommunication between him and the NFL refs. The Steelers wideout clarified that he was just doing a first-down hand gesture, but the ref thought it was something else.

“That’s something I already know. I would just probably say the refs thinking different gestures could hurt the team,” Pickens said. “Like I said, I never want to hurt the team, and you never want to get penalties… I’m only out here just playing like every other receiver in the league, certain calls don’t go my way, all I can do is just keep playing.”

Pickens added that he didn’t think there was anything he needed to do differently in those situations but did repeatedly stress that he never wanted to do anything to hurt the Steelers.

Pittsburgh were slapped with two 15-yard penalties as a result of Pickens’s unsportsmanlike actions, the second of which moved the Steelers back from red zone territory and culminated in a blocked field goal.

Pickens led the Steelers with three catches for 74 yards and one touchdown in the shootout win, marking the fifth time he’s recorded 70 or more receiving yards in his last six games. While he’s clearly creating strong chemistry with Russell Wilson and Pittsburgh continues to find impressive ways to win, Pickens may want to clean up some of his unprofessional behavior on the field before he inevitably costs his team a game.

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