PITTSBURGH — Prior to their 20-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys at Acrisure Stadium, the Steelers had issues with the wide receivers surrounding George Pickens, the group averaging just five targets per game through four weeks.

But as attention shifts to Las Vegas — and possibly another flirtation with a wide receiver, this time the Raiders' Davante Adams — the Steelers may also have a few Pickens-related problems to correct.

The Steelers' No. 1 wide receiver played just 34 of 57 snaps on Sunday night, which coach Mike Tomlin curiously described as "snap management," like Pickens was some hobbled veteran who needed a breather.

Furthermore, Pickens was targeted seven times and caught just three passes for 26 yards. Among the incompletions, a ball on third-and-4 midway through the third quarter that slipped through Pickens' hands was especially costly, negating any momentum the Steelers might've grabbed after Isaiahh Loudermilk's blocked field goal.

It's obviously not enough. But it's also not just about the numbers.

The entire Pickens situation is trending in the wrong direction — and I'm not just talking about his eye black, which featured the phrase "Always [Bleeping] Open."

The f-word in the middle isn't a great look on national television, but I'm also not trying to be Jiminy Cricket here. I'm probably more concerned by how Pickens ended the game: by yanking Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis to the ground by his facemask.

The petulant act will surely earn Pickens a fine, and it created a video that has since gone viral: Lewis walking to the Cowboys locker room after the game saying, "Pittsburgh need a receiver. George Pickens weak."

It's all getting a little tiring, isn't it?

Pickens clearly has immense talent. His ability to make acrobatic catches look easy has been evident since his first practice after the Steelers selected him with their second-round pick (52nd overall) in 2022. He's also just 23 years old.

The rub on Pickens coming out of the draft was that he was selected higher because of injuries, potential maturity issues, or both.

As a freshman, Pickens was ejected for throwing punches at Georgia Tech cornerback Tre Swilling during a Nov. 30, 2019 game and was suspended for the first half of the SEC championship against LSU.

The next year, on Oct. 10, 2020, Pickens incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after squirting Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano with water.

A torn ACL suffered in Georgia's spring game in 2021 kept him out of all but four games as a junior.

Injuries haven't been a concern for Pickens, who caught 63 passes for 1,140 yards and five touchdowns last season, but the other stuff has pretty much matched the scouting report.

And, unfortunately for the Steelers, it hasn't really shown signs of improving.

Last season, there was the issue of Pickens not blocking for running back Jaylen Warren in a game against the Colts because, as he later explained, he didn't want to get injured. The year before, in 2022, Pickens was caught on camera screaming, "Throw me the [bleeping] ball."

There have been more sideline blowups or running plays where Pickens' effort has been questioned — Kirk Herbstreit saying it was "a bad look" when Pickens clearly had no interest in blocking against the Patriots last December springs to mind — and I have a hard time believing the Steelers are OK with how Pickens has handled this stuff.

At least that's how I interpreted Tomlin's affording Pickens fewer snaps than Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III or Scotty Miller.

"We wanted to minimize his reps in an effort to get more productivity," Tomlin said. "We're trying to rep manage in terms of the totality of the big picture. He wasn't less of a focal point in terms of our intentions of what we wanted to do offensively. We did want to cut his reps a little bit in an effort to get higher quality play in general."

That quote — and more so the move — would seem to indicate that Pickens' play did not match the Steelers' expectations. But Tomlin insisted that isn't the case.

"It's no different than how we minimize some of the snaps for defensive linemen like Cam Heyward and so forth," Tomlin continued when pressed on why Pickens spent so much time the bench. "It's just about snap management. There's no underlying story, to be quite honest with you."

Sorry, I don't believe that for a second.

Heyward is 35, plays a much more physically demanding position and is coming off a season where he had multiple groin injuries, including one that required him to miss six games after surgery.

Pickens is 23 and the only legitimate playmaker the Steelers have when it comes to their wideouts.

He should be out there, though I wouldn't have a problem if this was indeed a case of Pickens being in the doghouse, the Steelers coach perhaps sacrificing the short-term to send a longer-term message.

The unfortunate part is that it's required — because the Steelers really need a better version of Pickens. They need him to stretch the field and make head-turning catches. They'd also help themselves — and Pickens — by upgrading their WR2 spot.

Regardless, though, this whole storyline is getting tiresome. It's long overdue for Pickens to cut out all the other crap, focus on playing football the way he's capable of playing it and functioning more as a leader — not a nuisance — for the Steelers offense.

(c)2024 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.