Mike Tomlin used Steelers-Antonio Brown experience to deal with George Pickens

George Pickens has been a distraction for this Pittsburgh Steelers team. Most recently, Pickens was visibly upset on the sidelines during Pittsburgh's eventual Thursday night loss to the New England Patriots.

While Tomlin spoke to Pickens during the game, he also made some curious comments this week about the second-year wideout's maturity.

“It’s a problem because it’s not solution-oriented,” Tomlin said. “You know we are all frustrated, but we got to manage our frustrations in a professional, mature way. When it’s not done that way, it’s not necessarily pushing us to solutions.”

Earlier this season, Tomlin failed to punish Pickens when he sulked after a win over the Tennessee Titans in which fellow wide receiver Diontae Johnson scored the game-winning touchdown. Now, it would appear the Tomlin-Pickens relationship has reached its boiling point.

Mike Tomlin, George Pickens met this week to discuss Steelers gameplan

Pickens and Tomlin met this week and had a productive sit-down, per the Steelers coach himself. Tomlin leaned on his past experience with disgruntled players like Antonio Brown to help explain to Pickens why he goes long stretches in a game without receiving the ball.

"When you have a dynamic player, oftentimes from a game playing perspective, you'll pick a block of time or block of plays where you're just going to deny that guy the ball and make others beat you. And the agenda is to keep the ball out of the hands of a significant player, but also if it's a significant player it's to create angst within him and within that unit," Tomlin said, using his background as a defensive backs coach to explain to Pickens what teams are trying to do to him and the Steelers.

Tomlin then pivoted, suggesting this is something all great wide receivers have to deal with, including former Steeler Antonio Brown.

"(Antonio Brown) saw a lot of it. I used to say to AB, 'Man, the second quarter is a big quarter.' Because in the first quarter of the game, people are not going to allow him, a known entity, to be significant. It's a tactic that's employed often when you're talking about significant players, or guys with unique talent in one-on-one circumstances," Tomlin added.

As poorly as Brown's tenure in Pittsburgh ended, Tomlin is able to lean on his past conversations with the embattled wideout to talk game with Pickens, and for that reason it's valuable.