‘He needs to understand’ – Cowboys have a message for George Pickens as they look for ways to fix struggles on offense
This is the first time the Dallas Cowboys have publicly pointed out George Pickens needing to level up his effort on gameday.
George Pickens proved he can be one of the best wide receivers in the NFL when he earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2025 playing for the Dallas Cowboys. And the locker room concerns stayed in Pittsburgh.
But there’s one narrative that he has yet to shake off: the effort debate.
Particularly on run plays or plays not going his way, Pickens will seemingly “take plays off.” At the very least, you can see his intensity go down a notch in many of those instances. For the first time since Pickens arrived at Dallas, head coach Brian Schottenheimer took a more open approach when talking about it.
Schottenheimer says Pickens must understand his impact
Talking to reporters on Thursday, Schottenheimer was asked about Pickens’ lack of effort in some plays and what the player needs to do to get going. Though Schottenheimer said he doesn’t believe Pickens is affected by not getting the ball, he admitted the receiver can improve in the run game.
“(Pickens) needs to understand that he impacts us in the running game as well,” Schottenheimer said. “He’s got to do the same thing in the run game picking up safeties and blocking corners just like (RB Javonte Williams) picking up blitzes so he can catch balls.”
Schottenheimer said it’s part of the Cowboys’ team-first mindset, and that “GP does understand that.” Particularly, Pickens’ effort level impacts how opposing safeties play the run.
“When he’s going, they’re going to play soft to his side,” Schottenheimer explained. “When he’s not going, then the safeties get pretty good runs at our backs and that’s got to improve.”
The Cowboys’ run game has bigger problems
Though Schottenheimer took on questions about Pickens’ effort, he shared bigger concerns about the run game. Mostly, he wants the Cowboys to run the ball more, though he credits unfavorable scoreboards as the reason why Dallas has abandoned it in recent weeks.
He also wants the Cowboys to cut down on negative runs, which is intriguing when you look at the numbers. The Cowboys have the third-best rushing offense per success rate, via Sumer Sports. They’re Top 15 in EPA/play.
But they are stuffed 22% of the time (stopped at the line ofscrimmage or behind), which is the 12th most in the NFL.
In other words, they have a lot to figure out beyond Pickens. But it’s still something to watch moving forward. That being said, the coaching staff itself has some homework on the Pickens front. The Cowboys have failed to deliver on their promise to move him around as a receiver and get him involved in gameplans regardless of what the defense is doing.
