WR George Pickens of the Steelers: "I had a tremendous game."

George Pickens, a rookie wide receiver, was cited and expelled in the final seconds of the Pittsburgh Steelers' 37-30 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd.

[{"selector":"#anim-ecccb9c8-f0e0-4a9d-83d6-d06907b166f3","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b0da7d5b-6157-4518-9324-3af3b1da0173","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 160.53067%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-6a5eceae-3e49-461b-94f3-714b54d83abd","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-8189f2ac-58e6-483c-8fe9-a76d90439dde","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 56.07927%, 0) rotate(314deg)","rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(314deg)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Pickens rushed in and late-timed speared Boyd after he had fallen after collecting an onside kick attempt.

[{"selector":"#anim-ac2345b0-5ea3-4012-bc2d-cce53622831c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f85fdcdc-caf9-43fb-bf5a-9785fc1dacce","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 46.29901%, 0) rotate(314deg)","rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(314deg)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c3623c4e-1414-423c-af21-8c6a8d031986","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-328535d8-d20e-4011-aa60-f6828ba9561b","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 164.11110%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

When Pickens was questioned about the incident on Thursday, he downplayed the entire incident and said it wasn't a huge problem because it came so late in the game

[{"selector":"#anim-05072362-b502-4309-ac43-99e5ed1298e8","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a7615096-efb6-472e-9797-34b1b611ca52","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 52.90017%, 0) rotate(314deg)","rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(314deg)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e7dcce8a-4aa4-4e7f-b723-7dd505989a82","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a8009b65-9676-447b-9763-3fc13b9d6828","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 172.31719%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Pickens made care to emphasize that he had a terrific game and stated that he was more concerned with the remainder of the game.

[{"selector":"#anim-8b66e963-3574-4731-985a-94cb6bb84feb","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f5490cad-9eb6-4021-87a8-0ded2071e743","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 46.29901%, 0) rotate(314deg)","rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(314deg)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-aee03944-685e-4afb-88a5-e69b4429b857","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-55428c09-79eb-439e-8f50-1df67193d652","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 152.61111%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Pickens' lack of maturity raised questions, and in all honesty, this isn't a good sign.

[{"selector":"#anim-da54b51a-9ce5-4301-98e3-67884ad70385","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-9ca91f0d-7cef-4685-b0c6-3a8346fd74c6","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 46.29901%, 0) rotate(314deg)","rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(314deg)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f4b500a2-1fc7-405d-a57a-a647a3e18df8","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-72bea6b9-cd11-4ae6-8321-7ecba8c5dfe5","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 212.85237%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

The Steelers are 3-7 this year and are finding it difficult to maintain any semblance of respect.

[{"selector":"#anim-0957c565-2092-4ac2-bcba-f59ac662de75","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-2310815b-e465-4a5b-bd5f-5b151cb664b7","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 68.99300%, 0) rotate(314deg)","rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(314deg)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-7ab59233-1f99-4f33-b592-7ceabcf3f447","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a35ce3be-303c-4e55-a94d-f0ae398a0989","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 323.30012%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

The "team first" mentality that head coach Mike Tomlin advocates is not exactly demonstrated by being okay with being booted because you had a nice game.

[{"selector":"#anim-d7dacf17-4221-4f69-8955-8a3e7c928095","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-60dc2fcb-cdd2-47a1-b291-fb80d9940b4f","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 52.58363%, 0) rotate(314deg)","rotate(-314deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(314deg)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-1fa5770e-d0d1-481d-9f89-7b34afe30b6f","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-36f0af09-ac69-4041-bb84-c62b3bb68438","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 210.12349%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]