Speaking at his youth camp this week, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott raved about his new teammate George Pickens.
“That’s a guy that loves football, that loves football. I mean the guy’s telling me about my college days, and you don’t know about Mississippi State college days unless you’re a football guy,” Prescott said. “And sure he’s from Alabama, and that’s right there in that region, but I mean players that I played with, guys from his region.
“That right there, that knowledge, that involvement, that shows you a guy loves football. And that, to me, deletes a lot of things that you’ve heard in the past about him.”
Pickens is at the honeymoon phase with the Cowboys right now. It’s all sunshine and rainbows. Will that be the case if Pickens receives four targets in a November loss? Time will tell. But right now, Prescott is stoked to have Pickens on America’s Team.
“Great dude, loves his teammates, and excited as hell for this season,” Prescott said. “I know he is, I know he’s happy to be in a fresh, new spot. And I’m excited for what he’s going to do for us.”
Prescott believes the sky’s the limit for Pickens this season. The Cowboys’ signal caller saw Pickens’ freakish athletic abilities firsthand during the spring workouts.
“I mean, go turn on that guy’s tape. He’s getting separation. He’s gotten separation even when he’s not getting the ball at times,” Prescott said. “And hell, when he doesn’t have separation, he’s still making the catches. … For me it’s about getting that ball near that guy and letting him go be George Pickens. And turn on the tape, he’s great at doing that.”
Despite being a distraction on and off the field throughout his three years in Pittsburgh, Pickens disagrees with the narrative that he has a mercurial personality.
“I’m actually a chill guy,” Pickens said on after a Cowboys OTAs session in May. “There’s a big phase of a tornado that’s not even true. I’m a chill guy and I just love to work. Just staying humble. That’s kind of what I always did. So even when the story was what the story was, I always just kept working, staying humble.”
In 2023, Pickens was fined over $200,000 between the NFL and the Steelers for incidents, including reported serial tardiness to team practices and meetings.
In 2024, he received over $80,000 in fines from the NFL for his on-field behavior, including unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct, two fights after the end of a loss, a profane message on his eye black and got into a sideline spat with fans. He also was late on multiple occasions in 2024.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer is thrilled to have Pickens in Big D.
“My time with him has been incredible. … We were all on board (with adding him). I see a guy that is maturing. He’s obviously a tremendous athlete,” Schottenheimer said.
Schottenheimer also said that Pickens has been dialed in...