The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ locker room seems to be in shambles right now, and that has not been lost on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd ahead of their Week 16 matchup.
Most recently, Steelers wide receiver George Pickens stirred some waves when he did not block for running back Jaylen Warren on a red-zone run, resulting in Warren getting stopped near the goal line. Pickens excused his lack of effort for attempting to avoid injury, and Warren proceeded to take a subtle shot at the wide out afterward. Head coach Mike Tomlin also did not seem too happy.
This is hardly the first run-in Pickens has had with his team this season, and when asked about it, Boyd said Pittsburgh’s issues demonstrate a lack of togetherness.
“It just shows the lack of camaraderie that’s over there,” Boyd said, via Ben Baby of ESPN. “I can’t really talk for anybody, but when things ain’t going well, you’ve still got to perform at a high level and do what you can to help your team.”
Boyd wasn’t just referencing Pickens’ non-block, either. He also pointed out a different play where Pickens appeared to make minimal effort to run down a defender after an interception in the same game.
“I done seen a clip with him, what was it, on a pick. It kind of looked like he wasn’t trying to chase it down,” Boyd said. “See, I don’t go about that. That’s something that they’ve deal with, and when things ain’t going good, that’s when your true colors show. I like to be the same player week in, week out whether it’s going good or bad for me.”
Through 14 games this season, Boyd has caught 59 passes for 575 yards and a couple of touchdowns.
The 29-year-old, who played his collegiate football at the University of Pittsburgh, was selected by the Bengals in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Boyd has been a consistent producer in Cincinnati throughout his career and logged back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns in 2018 and 2019.
The Bengals are 8-6 and currently hold the second Wild Card spot in the AFC playoff picture. Meanwhile, the Steelers are 7-7 and have lost three games in a row, putting their postseason hopes on life support.
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