FRISCO, Texas – Over the last two weeks, Dallas Cowboys’ George Pickens has faced a torrent of outside criticism regarding his performance and even his effort.
But this is nothing new for Pickens. He even remarked that it’s “starting to get kind of old, honestly.” He understands that part of his role comes with noise and chooses not to engage with it further.
“That’s definitely what it felt like, but I can’t really get into that. Everybody’s got a job to do…” Pickens said when asked if he felt people were waiting for him to have a bad game to question him.
“Some people’s job is to do that, tear down character, see how much clicks they can get, but I’m just here to play football and help the team honestly.“
Pickens’ eight catches and 70 yards in the last two games are uncharacteristic of the rest of his 2025 season, where he has racked up 1,212 total receiving yards, ranking third in the NFL.
From his and head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s perspective, teams have recently devoted extra attention to Pickens.
“Double coverage,” Pickens said when asked what defenses have been doing to limit him. “It’s really that simple, just double coverage. Offensively, all we can do is just try to execute at a high level, no matter what that is.“
Still, Pickens has faced double coverage often throughout his career. What’s different now?
“Keeping a guy inside, keeping a guy outside, or keeping a guy over the top and having a guy underneath, just on one side of the field,” Pickens explained. “Which is a huge product of CeeDee going crazy, [Ryan] Flournoy going crazy, which I’m super proud of those guys.“
Doubling a team’s best receiver is common practice in the NFL. Pickens is confident he and the Cowboys can adjust.
“Moving guys around. Certain plays, sometimes you can just run the ball, honestly…” Pickens shared on beating double coverage.
“When teams do a lot of scattered coverages, you can honestly just run the ball. They get out of there. When you see a lot of Cover 1 when guys roll down and people are in the box, that’s kind of when you want to pass on it, but definitely when we see that, we’ll adjust.“
Up next are the Los Angeles Chargers, a defense that moves its pieces around fluidly, something Pickens noted on film.
“Physical, been watching them a lot,” Pickens said of the Chargers’ defense. “They like to run fit, I know Derwin [James] likes to play more around the box now later in his career, so we’re just trying to fill voids and get to our routes with speed.“
The Cowboys will still have to decide on Pickens’ future after the season, as he’s in the final year of his rookie deal. Beyond an extension, Dallas could use the franchise tag, a topic Pickens was again asked about Wednesday.
“All I can do is just keep one day forward and keep going,” Pickens said.
The message is clear: Amid the barrage of criticism, George Pickens chooses silence, letting his on-field performance do the talking. The upcoming game against the Chargers is the perfect opportunity for just that.