Honestly, Troy Aikman didn’t need to say who he was talking about when he called out a Dallas Cowboys wide receiver recently.
We all knew he meant George Pickens because we all saw how Pickens played in a Week 6 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
“I won’t name names, but there’s one particular player, I was embarrassed,” Aikman said on The Cowboys Fish Report on Friday. “It’s the worst performance I’ve ever seen from a wide receiver on a football field.”
Aikman, a 3-time Super Bowl champion and Pro Football Hall of Famer, famously teamed with one of the greatest wide receivers of all time — Michael Irvin — on the Cowboys in the 1990s.
Irvin, another Hall of Famer, would have rather died on the field than be accused of dogging it. And Aikman wasn’t the only one who recognized Pickens’ lack of effort against the Packers.
Pickens Appeared Disinterested in Packers Loss
Pickens is on a 1-year, $27.2 million franchise tag in 2026 after the Cowboys decided against a lucrative contract extension.
“I don’t know who was less interested in the (Cowboys-Packers) game tonight other than me, but George Pickens was up there,” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said on Sunday night. “Pickens thinks the franchise tag means that he’s playing tag football, not actual football.”
Cowboys Head Coach Calls Out Pickens’ Effort
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer didn’t mince words about Pickens’ performance, calling out the NFL All-Pro for his lack of effort in blocking downfield.
As always, Pickens didn’t shoulder the blame for any of it.
“I feel like as a team, I feel like run, pass, a lot of stuff,” Pickens replied when asked about Schottenheimer’s comments about his blocking, or lack thereof. “You know what I mean? One week it was, you guys were saying defense; one week you were saying this. I feel like if you narrow the comments down, you’re talking about the team. So most definitely, I feel like as a team, just keep improving.”
When asked how he could get more involved on offense, Pickens gave an all-time answer.
“Well, I’m doing what they tell me to do,” Pickens said. “So, do what they tell me to do.”
Troy Aikman Calls Out Cowboys WR: ‘Worst Performance I’ve Ever Seen’