George Pickens Doing Exactly As Cowboys Expect Amid Tough Week

Dallas Cowboys receiver George Pickens has seen himself among all the headlines this week, and not for good reasons.

His effort was questioned in the loss to the Detroit Lions, and the back-and-forth with Richard Sherman wasn't great either. Many think the "Pittsburgh Pickens," who was a fiery personality and didn't look engaged during games at times, has returned.

So, all eyes were going to be on George inside The Star this week as the Cowboys gear up for a Week 15 clash on Sunday night against the Minnesota Vikings.

How has George looked this week?

"He's responded great,” Dak Prescott said. “Just came in like a pro, and as I expected him doing. When you're playing to the level he is, the standard what he put out there is not to his standard or anybody's expectations when you play the way that he does.

"He owns that, and he's had a hell of a week of practice and is going to continue to finish that way, and there's no doubt it's all going to just transpire into the game.”

That's exactly what Cowboys Nation wanted to hear.

And I was of the belief that one game doesn't wash away all of the good Pickens has done this season for the Cowboys...others didn't think so and sharpened the pitchforks.

Still, Pickens is trying to escape his Pittsburgh career and leave it in the rearview mirror, but it reared its ugly head in Detroit, and for some, it only reinforced the thought that that side of George is still in there.

It was only one game, so I was never going to throw out the baby with the bath water, but there's no denying that Pickens is now walking a tight rope. 

A one-strike policy applies for the rest of the season, because if the backlash to one poor game was this fierce, one can only imagine if it happens again.

Jerry Jones, Dak, and Brian Schottenheimer don't seem concerned with Pickens over the long term, and time will tell if that belief is misplaced or not.

But one bad game among 13 surely offers a little big of grace, right?