It’s been a strange week between the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Brian Schottenheimer, and his star receiver George Pickens. Rare is the time that Schottenheimer calls out any player publicly, especially a star like Pickens, but this week, he did ding Pickens for his efforts in run blocking. The Cowboys have the second-least productive run game in the NFL, and while it’s not exactly the fault of Pickens, he is a symptom of the problem–generally, the Cowboys can be too lax in their run blocking.
On top of that, Dallas had a surprise issue with Pickens in practice this week–he was limited on Thursday, raising some questions about whether he’s completely healthy. But, asked about it on Friday, Schottenheimer quelled some fears–about both Pickens and Tyler Guyton, the left tackle who was also limited.
Asked if there was ongoing injury worries there, Schottenheimer said, “No, I thought both guys did a really good in job in practice. We’re at a point in the season where guys are banged up but both guys did a good job with what we asked them to do.”
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Pickens has had good numbers so far this season, with 33 catches and 428 yards through six games, putting him on pace to go over 1,200 yards. But his impact has not been the same as it was in his breakout season last year, and there has been frustration with the Cowboys’ approach to getting him the ball.
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Schottenheimer said that continues to be an issue of double teams. As defenses pay more attention to Pickens, quarterback Dak Prescott will look for CeeDee Lamb, who has 48 catches for 577 yards on the year.
Appearing on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Schottenheimer said, “If George Pickens is doubled and CeeDee Lamb is one-on one, we have a choice. Not that we’re not going to throw the ball into double coverage with George, we have certainly done that, multiple times. But when you’ve got two elite guys like that, which not many teams do in the league, you have a choice. If you want to double him, we’re going to go there.”
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Schottenheimer was also asked about the style of play Pickens employs, which sometimes looks like he is loafing on the field but would be more accurately described as him using change-of-speed to his advantage. The Cowboys have no issue with how he approaches that.
Said Schottenheimer: “I talked about GP last night and, look, one of my favorite players of all time, the way he plays the game, obviously an incredible talent. I think the big ting we’re on GP about is you know, being as consistent in the run and pass and coming off the line of scrimmage. But you mentioned it, the one thing about George is when he runs certain routes, they don’t necessarily look like the way that they’re drawn in the play book.
“Tyler Lockett was that way, I am going way back, Andre Rison was that was. There’s a number of guys that their style and the things that they do is a little bit unique.”
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