PITTSBURGH -- A day after Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens downplayed criticisms of his effort and gave excuses for why he didn't block in a now-viral play from Saturday's loss to the Indianapolis Colts, coach Mike Tomlin addressed Pickens' maturity and comments to the media.
"George is a talented guy, but he's growing and growing in a lot of ways in regards to football and life," Tomlin said Wednesday. "We don't run away from that. We run to that organizationally when we draft guys. We're committed to being a component of their growth and development in all areas. It is very much a work in progress, and so it is continual, it's not going to be one incident or one meeting or one form of discipline that's going to institute the type of change that we're hunting.
"To be quite honest with you, it is going to be continual. He is aware of that. We meet on a routine basis. We met last Wednesday, he and I, we met again today."
Tomlin, who normally is scheduled to address the media only postgame and during a weekly news conference, was requested to speak by local media following Wednesday's practice. He agreed and opened his seven-minute availability with a strong statement about his second-year wide receiver.
"Largely I like to keep his growth and development and the things regarding his growth and development private, to be quite honest with you," Tomlin said. "Talking about it in this setting doesn't aid in the process or speed up the process, but rest assured there's a commitment here, not only from us but from him in terms of growing as a man and a player."
Tomlin has managed his share of challenging wide receivers in 17 seasons at the Steelers' helm, including Martavis Bryant, Antonio Brown and Chase Claypool. In 2017, Tomlin suspended Bryant for one game after Bryant took to social media to criticize his teammates.
Though Tomlin confirmed Pickens will still play Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals despite his excuses, deflections and pattern of apparent low-effort, inconsistent play, Tomlin said he wouldn't disclose any specifics of Pickens' punishment.
"Because he's got talents," Tomlin said, explaining why Pickens would play Saturday. "We want to utilize him. He's very much in growth and development, but it'd be the same if we were winning games or if he said appropriate things with you guys yesterday. You guys might've gone away. But that wouldn't have made me any more comfortable about this process that he's going through that is ongoing and continual, and it will continue to require our attention.
"When you're winning and doing your jobs, man, a lot of the attention and so forth is on things such as that. When you're not doing your job and losing, you better keep your damn mouth shut and understand that attracts a certain type of attention, as well. And usually that's vulture-like attention."
On Tuesday, Pickens told reporters he didn't block for Jaylen Warren on a first-quarter run because he feared injury.
"I was just trying to prevent the Tank Dell situation, the same thing that happened to [him]," Pickens 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."
And on the criticism that has come from his perceived lack of effort on that play and others, Pickens added, "All the people that's questioning my effort don't play football. They do what y'all [the media] do."
On Wednesday, Tomlin said Pickens didn't tell him that he was trying to avoid injury when he stopped engaging on the block. He also pointed to Pickens' handling of the media as a necessary area of growth. Tomlin responded, "No" when asked if, in general, Pickens' effort was an issue.
"He did not express it to me, but how he deals with us and how he deals with you guys might be two different things," Tomlin said of Pickens saying he wanted to avoid injury on the play. "And to be quite honest with you, it's a reflection of maturity or needed growth in that area.
"To be quite honest with you, dealing with the media and dealing with you guys in an honest and upright fashion is a component of our jobs, and it's something that he and we are working on, but he is a competitor. That component of him is mature and the competitor in him at times works against him when facing challenges such as dealing with you guys."
Asked how the locker room felt about Pickens' decision not to block, Tomlin told reporters to direct the question to the locker room. And asked if the actions of one player could harm or affect the larger group, Tomlin responded, "it certainly can." A reporter followed up and asked if that was happening now; Tomlin dodged a direct answer and said, "It depends on when you ask me."
Earlier in the day, veteran wide receiver Allen Robinson II, who was brought on in part to shepherd Pickens, said the younger wide receiver needs to adjust his mindset to make the plays.
"That's something that he has to compartmentalize, and just understand in that situation, regardless in the league, is you got to put the efforts out there to create winning habits, and sometimes for younger players, it may take some time to understand that or see that. But him being able to see that in how certain efforts when you are on the field, how those can kind of be game-changing situations, whether it be a touchdown or tackle at the 1," Robinson said.
Tomlin acknowledged that many players he drafts are "unfinished in a lot of ways" and said he's committed to helping them become more fully developed -- on and off the field.
"It's a process, these young people growing and developing," Tomlin said. "And let's be honest, the process at times is challenging because of -- their talents are a blessing and a curse. Some people hate 'em for no reason. Some people give 'em everything they ask for no reason.
"We just try to give him truth and have a commitment in terms of working with him day to day and knowing that maturation and growth is a process. It's not one meeting, it's not one incident, it's not one form of discipline, it's a process."