It was not the game that the Dallas Cowboys or star receiver George Pickens expected in the Week 1 loss to the Giants on Sunday. Pickens had one of the most important plays in the game, one that may have turned the tide irrevocably against the Cowboys when, with just a little more than a minute to play in a tied game, he was streaking down the sideline and allowed a deep ball in Giants territory to bounce off his fingers for an incomplete pass. Quarterback Dak Prescott was intercepted trying to throw the ball away shortly after that.
That interception sparked a late first-half rally by the New York offense, which resulted in a touchdown and a 14-7 lead. The Giants scored on a long drive to open the third quarter and just like that, the score was 21-7 and the Cowboys were swimming upstream.
George Pickens: ‘It’s Football’
Pickens finally spoke about the dropped pass–one of two on the evening–at the Cowboys facility on Wednesday. He pointed out that drops happen as just part of the game. He did only drop four passes in 2025, and is already halfway to matching that, though.
Said Pickens: “It’s football, so you’re going to have something here, you’re going to have something there. But you definitely want to limit those just to make the big plays because that’s what I know what I’m capable of, but football is football.”
Explaining his poor overall numbers–three catches for 28 yards on seven targets, Pickens said: “Definitely the releases. I’d probably say the releases. Really everything. I felt like I was open on most of the stuff, honestly. Just making the play, you’ve got to finish it. You can run a beautiful route, you’ve still got to finish the catch.”
Cowboys Not Concerned
Speaking to reporters in his press conference, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the team has not worries about Pickens’ sudden onset of butterfingers. He was asked if there was anything he said to Pickens in the days after the game, and said there was nothing that needed to be said.
Said Schottenheimer: “He’s gonna usually catch that ball going down the sideline and probably pull through it, then jump over people and spin and then jump into the end zone. So, I don’t worry about George.”
George Pickens Did Not Get Long-Term Cowboys Contract
It’s a big year for Pickens, of course, as he tries to back up the stellar season he put forth last year in Dallas, when he caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards and set career highs in both categories. The Cowboys refused to give Pickens a long-term contract, though, and signed him on a one-year deal for the franchise tag, $27.3 million.
Pickens is set to be a free agent next winter, and is playing to establish himself as a true WR1.
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