PITTSBURGH — Man, if George Pickens blocked for his teammates the way Mike Tomlin has blocked for Pickens this week, we'd be calling him Hines Ward Jr.

He'd be busting people's jaws.

But before I forget, kudos to Tomlin for this much: Of the 20.3 million people who watched Steelers-Cowboys, he was somehow the only one who didn't notice that Pickens had the F-word painted on his face. Nobody told Pickens to remove the word. I'm sure the president of the family friendly Steelers, Art Rooney II, was proud.

If Tomlin didn't notice something as obvious as that, maybe it's understandable he didn't think the rest of us would notice that Pickens wasn't, you know, playing. Or trying. He had the lowest participation level of his career, even though the offense was stinking up the joint and he's their best player. And when Pickens did play, he was running routes like a 98-year-old man getting out of bed.

Nothing to see here!

Whether anybody admits it or not, Pickens was benched. The Post-Gazette's Ray Fittipaldo reported Thursday that, according to sources, Pickens has been late to work multiple times this season. It's unclear if that had anything to do with the benching. What is clear is that Pickens was pouting on the sidelines and throwing his helmet and giving less than his best effort (again).

Yet, instead of giving up the ruse when it became clear that people had, indeed, noticed all of that, Tomlin on Tuesday extended it to the point where it became uncomfortable. To the point where you wanted to jump in like the old boxing referee Richard Steele and tell him to stop.

We're stupid, Mike. But not that stupid.

I'm almost reluctant to rehash it out of sheer embarrassment, but Tomlin actually dived into analytics for the first time in his 18-year career and tried to explain that Pickens, 23, was limited against the Cowboys because of "snap management" or "load management." He was being saved for late in the game and I guess later in the season, which would make him the first No. 1 receiver in NFL history to be preserved in such fashion. This was a load, all right, just not load management.

Tomlin was so hesitant to admit he benched Pickens that he actually compared the situation to the Elandon Roberts-Payton Wilson timeshare at inside linebacker. More laughably, he again compared it to how the Steelers use 35-year-old defensive lineman Cam Heyward, although it should probably be pointed out that Heyward played 72% of the snaps against Dallas compared to Pickens' 59%.

But let me call another timeout here (unlike Tomlin, I saved one) and say something else before we move on: This is not about excoriating George Pickens, the person. A lot of us were knuckleheads in our early 20s. I used to work at a pizza joint and called in one day with a fake broken arm and never returned. Thing is, I wasn't making millions and looking for about $100 million more while playing the highest-profile professional sport in America with a bunch of teammates depending on me (I'm not even sure the head cook noticed; he was high all the time).

Which brings us to the central point here, because the only thing that matters in this environment, no matter how old you are, is winning: Should the Steelers sink big money into George Pickens? The Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac reported in training camp that they intend to do just that after the season.

Do they still?

Would you?

It's an honest question because Pickens is productive and sometimes great. I also have to factor his enablers into that equation. Are they willing to exercise some tough love? Would it work if they did? I can't help but think of the story in The Athletic prior to the 2022 draft, when one NFL scout was quoted as saying, "There's a lot of upside (with Pickens), but he can't get out of his own way. He's been enabled his whole life."

Tomlin scoffed at such characterizations and has passionately defended Pickens at every turn since. Sadly, like so many other star receivers around here, Pickens has taken his coach's faith, trust and protection and urinated all over it. And it seems once Tomlin's star receivers head down the wrong street, he is unable to turn them around. He lost Santonio Holmes, Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson, and could never reel them back in. All were traded.

Maybe Pickens is the exception. Maybe Tomlin is honestly addressing these issues behind closed doors.

I sure hope the leadership core is confronting Pickens. To bring this full circle, it has me thinking back to Ward and the teams he played on. Imagine if Pickens had to walk into the early 2000s Steelers locker room after his pitiful effort Sunday, or maybe after his reluctance to block for teammate Jaylen Warren at the goal line last season, a dereliction he tried to excuse by saying he didn't want to risk injury.

Picture him walking into work the next day and seeing James Farrior, Jerome Bettis, Troy Polamalu, Alan Faneca, Casey Hampton, Joey Porter and Aaron Smith.

Picture him walking past Ward, who always wanted more targets, spoke about that privately and sometimes wondered why he didn't get them — but never, ever let it impact his effort. He approached every play like it was Super Sunday. I don't think he was ever late for work, either.

I'll do that one better: Imagine, if you would, Pickens walking into the 1970s Steelers locker room the morning after Sunday's game and facing Joe Greene, Mel Blount, Jack Lambert, Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, to name five.

Yes, I know, things have changed. Athletes have changed. Maybe putting Pickens in a 1970s locker room is unfair. But I can tell you this: His act doesn't appear to be playing all that well in this locker room, either.

You didn't need a linguist to decipher that tight end Pat Freiermuth was referencing Pickens after the Cowboy game when he said, of his own involvement in the offense, "I trust the coaching staff and what they're doing. Everyone can bitch and complain about a lack of targets, but it's the stuff you do without the ball. That's what leaders do and that's what good teammates do."

Ex-Steelers tackle Max Starks shredded Pickens on the flagship station's postgame show. Ben Roethlisberger, on his podcast, was talking about Pickens' role and how the Steelers have to work around the fact that "he's not gonna block" on certain running plays.

This is not about what Pickens will do in Las Vegas on Sunday. He had a big game after the Warren Whiff play last year, you'll remember. It's whether these issues will resurface, how they will impact the team's ability to win, and whether you want to sink a bunch of money and years into him.

Is he worth it? Well, with apologies to George's facial phrase from Sunday, here's what I'd say to that at the moment:

No blankin' way.

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