“Mike Tomlin Is the Problem”: Shannon Sharpe Explains Why Russell Wilson Isn’t on the Same Page With George Pickens

During the Christmas Day clash against the Kansas City Chiefs, Russell Wilson threw an end-zone interception that was meant to be a pass for George Pickens. However, Pickens was not even in the vicinity to receive it. After the loss, the Pittsburgh Steelers QB had called it a simple case of not being on the same page with Pickens.

Fast forward to the Steelers’ final regular-season loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, the problems are evident. Russ and his WR are not even on the same book now, forget page. Pickens couldn’t even tally a single yard from six targets against the Bengals. While the internet is divided on who to blame for this lack of chemistry, Shannon Sharpe feels HC Mike Tomlin has played a big role in it.

“Mike Tomlin is the problem,” Sharpe declared.

In the latest episode of Nightcap, Unc ripped into Pickens and Tomlin for the newfound offensive woes at Pittsburgh. He deemed Pickens’ laziness as the reason the receiver isn’t on the same page with Russ, and criticized Tomlin for not addressing the issue when he first noticed it.

According to Sharpe, the Steelers HC ignored Pickens’ lazy route-running during the winning streak earlier in the season.

“Mike Tomlin, you condoned George Pickens’ behavior, you tolerated things in a win you never would in a loss… I saw this with AB in 2016 and now you see this with Pickens… Mike Tomlin will tolerate negative behavior if he wins the game. Now look how he is looking? George Pickens basically lost him the game tonight cause he was awful,” elaborated Sharpe.

Shannon then delved into the chemistry issues between Pickens and Wilson by sharing some observations from the Steelers’ practice sessions. He noted that, despite being under Tomlin’s watch, Pickens was lackadaisical in training. This resulted in Russell not getting a grip on the pace of his receiver, leading to interceptions and sacks.

Shannon added: “In practice, you run the route like you would in the game… Now let me ask you a question. How do you think that’s going to time up in the game if you bull-jabbing driving in practice considering the game is absolutely faster?”

There is a lot of merit in Shannon’s take. Tomlin has always chosen to protect Pickens, even if it comes at the cost of dunking on his QB.

The most recent example of this was seen after the Chiefs game, where it was clear as day that Pickens didn’t follow the instruction of running the vertical route. Despite the mistake from the WR, Tomlin stated that Pickens’ running had “zero” relation to Wilson’s pick.

While it’s understandable that a coach would always protect his players, it shouldn’t be by throwing another one under the bus — that too the leader of the locker room.

Pickens’ issues also seem to stem from his unwillingness to put in effort, which is unacceptable. When you’re paid millions, you’re expected to give your all in each game. But Pickens clearly hasn’t done that.

With the playoffs inching closer, it’s high time Coach Tomlin lets George know that his game and work ethic need to pick up.