Steelers' George Pickens Says He Was Trying to Avoid Injury in Viral Blocking Video

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens has had enough of NFL fans and media questioning his effort after he failed to block for Jaylen Warren in Saturday's loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

"Yeah, all the people that's questioning my effort, they don't play football," Pickens told reporters Tuesday. "They do what y'all [the media] do."

As to why he didn't block, Pickens added that he was trying to avoid an injury on the play.

"I was just trying to prevent the Tank Dell situation, the same thing that happened to (him)," Picken said. "I ain't want to get an injury. When you stay on the block too low, you can get ran up on very easily."

In the first quarter of Saturday's loss, Warren broke free and was running toward the end zone, but Pickens made no effort to block Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones, standing still as his teammate was tackled at the one-yard line.

For reference, Dell was blocking in-line for running back Dameon Pierce and got rolled up on during the Houston Texans' Dec. 3 win over the Denver Broncos. He ended up needing season-ending surgery for a fractured fibula.

Failing to block for Warren wasn't Pickens' only display of poor effort against the Colts, though. He also got beat on a jump ball by safety Nick Cross, which led to an interception, and seemingly made no effort to bring down the ball carrier following Mitchell Trubisky's second interception of the game.

Saturday's game against the Colts was considered a must-win for the Steelers. Instead, they dropped to 7-7 with the loss and are barely hanging around the playoff bubble.

That said, Pickens' lack of effort was disheartening, and if he's that worried about suffering an injury, it's clear he's not putting everything on the line to help the Steelers win games down the stretch.

Through 14 games this season, Pickens has caught 52 passes for 814 yards and three touchdowns. Those numbers aren't bad by any means, but he could likely become a true offensive threat for the Black and Gold if he put in a little more effort.

The Steelers face a tough road ahead as they close out the season with matchups against the Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens.