Pickens' effort was questioned in the loss to the Lions, but do the Cowboys now have a problem on their hands?
Effort.
It's something that you can't teach, and it doesn't matter what level of sport you are playing at; it takes zero talent to give it, and for Dallas Cowboys receiver George Pickens, the outside perception is that he lacked effort against the Detroit Lions.
Granted, from the outside, it did look like George wasn't his usual self, with the energy in and out of routes not there, and that led to some rather interesting chatter post-game and in the days following the 44-30 loss.
I've stated numerous times since Thursday night that one bad game doesn't erase all the good George has done since he arrived at The Star. For others, it has, and his effort in Detroit might negatively impact his ability to get top dollar in the offseason.
Many noticed the perceived lack of effort from George. Has head coach Brian Schottenheimer spoken to Pickens about it?
“We talked a little bit about it, in his words, he goes, 'Hey Schotty, I didn't play my best game,' and unfortunately, none of us played our best game, so that's real,” Schottenheimer said. “But again, I don't worry about George and his love for football and playing this game.
"For five or six weeks, he was the talk of the sporting world. We didn't coach or play well enough to win that game in Detroit."
All eyes will now be on Pickens moving forward, because if the blowback to one bad game has taught us anything, it is that despite being a model citizen for the first 13 weeks, one misstep allows the pitchforks to be sharpened, and George's love of the game comes under question.
No, it wasn't a great look, but CeeDee Lamb had a poor game previously and bounced back. Maybe Pickens should be afforded the same chance to do the same thing.
His turbulent time in Pittsburgh before being traded here last spring is largely to thank for the impatience from the public.
Still, Schottenheimer is right. Pickens was the center of the NFL world for a month, and now he's had a bad game with everyone coming for him.
How George responds in the coming weeks will tell us a lot about how far he has come from his Pittsburgh days ... or how little.