In case you missed it, Richard Sherman and George Pickens have been beefing lately. After the Dallas Cowboys’ 44-30 loss on the road to the Detroit Lions, the former cornerback ripped the receiver to shreds, saying he didn’t play hard enough. “You can’t be the guy and half-ass it,” Sherman said, among other remarks. The clip naturally went viral, and Pickens even responded to the criticism on social media.
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And that’s what many are perceiving as a back-and-forth beef session between Pickens and Sherman. But according to the former All-Pro defender, there was no back-and-forth. He simply saw what he saw on the tape and did his job after the game by telling the viewers his analysis.
Today, Sherman clarified that Pickens has the potential to be great, but it’s frustrating to see him take plays off.
“If you wanna be the guy, and I think he’s the guy, I think he can be the best receiver in the league… then you can’t really take no plays off,” Sherman said on the Closed on Sundays podcast.
It’s a valid point that many former and current wideouts would agree with. One play in particular that ruffled Sherman’s feathers came with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter. Dak Prescott tried to hit Pickens deep down the left sideline while down two scores, but the ball was underthrown and fell off target.
The issue that Sherman had with the play was Pickens’s effort. He expected the receiver to at least try to make a play on the ball. After all, this is George Pickens we’re talking about, one of the best contested-catch receivers in the NFL.
“If we didn’t have such high standards for him, then it wouldn’t have mattered… But you almost can’t have it both ways. You can’t say, ‘I think he’s the best player in the league.’ And then be like, ‘Oh, he couldn’t have caught that.’ It is what it is,” Sherman concluded.
“I think he can be the best receiver in the league … [but] you can’t take plays off.”
Richard Sherman addresses his critique of Cowboys WR George Pickens pic.twitter.com/oovMulPZ4Y
— Closed on Sundays with Pat and Terrion (@closedsundaypod) December 10, 2025
All in all, the former corner seemed like he wanted to offer his analysis on Pickens and be done with it. But it eventually turned into a perceived beef between the two. That’s why he clarified today that his comments weren’t meant as a slight. Instead, he wanted Pickens to know that he believes the receiver is better than what he put on tape Thursday night.
