Pickens fires back at Sherman's stinging criticism, igniting a fiery exchange and casting doubt on his future with the Cowboys.
Dallas Cowboys receiver George Pickens is facing his first rough moment this season after his performance in the 44-30 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Pickens, who would catch just five passes for 37 yards on Thursday, wasn't himself ...
And everyone noticed.
The same energy and vigor we had become accustomed to over the past 13 weeks wasn't there, and looking at the tape, Pickens appeared to be going half-speed on some routes.
The body language wasn't the best either, so there is a lot to dissect.
Well, former All-Pro corner Richard Sherman gave Pickens both barrels for his effort on Prime's broadcast post-game, stating George looked "uninterested in playing football" and that Pickens "can't just disappear," calling it unacceptable.
Pickens, in his postgame reflections, appeared to take the criticism well, stating that he knows he can't disappear in games.
But by Friday, after he'd slept on it? Well, George might have done something that wasn't very smart.
Pickens went on Instagram and fired back at Sherman with a NSFW rant.
In his now-deleted post, "GP'' wrote: "Lots of shh has to go right for. Explosive. Plays and it's funny cause I thought former players would know that such as. RICHARD P**** A** SHERMAN WHO BTW AINT SHH WITHOUT THE LEGION OF BOOM WE ALL REMEMBER SAN FRANCISCO BROTHER.."
George went after Sherman's time in San Francisco, among other things, in what will no doubt be seen as a weak moment for Pickens.
The blowback from Pickens' effort in Detroit has been rather up and down, but perhaps the biggest one is how the 6-6-1 Cowboys will approach George for the rest of the season and the offseason with his contract up after this year.
Is what we saw from Pickens in Detroit what Dallas wants to see from a $30 million APY receiver?
That question has to be asked because no doubt, this will come up at contract time for Pickens and the Cowboys.
It wasn't George's best night, and for us, one bad game out of 13 doesn't mean that the "old Pickens" is back ... because no one can deny that Pickens has been superb in every aspect since arriving at The Star via the offseason trade from the Steelers.
But now, he faces the biggest test in Dallas, with many thinking the "Pittsburgh Pickens" as arrived.
Time will tell if that's the case.