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George Pickens Claps Back at Jaguars after Playoff Elimination

Originally posted on Steelers Now | By Nick Farabaugh | Last updated 1/7/24

When the Jaguars knocked off the Steelers in October, George Pickens caught flak for saying that they had a ‘hope defense’. In a postgame interview, Jaguars safeties Andrew Wingard and Rayshawn Jenkins went after Pickens, saying that he has to be better for his team.

“Man, truly, he needs some advice moving forward,” Wingard told Mia O’Brien of 1010XL. “You never put pressure, expectation on yourself. He did that. If hoping is getting a dub, we’ll take the dub. You don’t fire up a bunch of hungry dogs. It’s not smart. George, do better.”

Pickens fired back at one of Jenkins’ original comments early in the week that Pickens was talented but had yet to see the Jaguars cornerbacks. For Jenkins, he knew that Pickens was a young player, but he needed to take it as a lesson.

“Man, you know, the hope,” Jenkins said. “Our defense was going to do whatever, I don’t know how they thought we were going to come in and play. But we would’ve hoped that they would come in and put up a better fight than that. He’s a young player, but you can’t chat before the game. You can’t do that. You have to walk the walk.”

But George Pickens got the last laugh and took to Instagram to take a shot at the Jaguars. He echoed his original comments that they were a hope defense.

George Pickens on IG. #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/DrY3LWTXaS

— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) January 7, 2024

That story shows that Pickens, as he says, does indeed keep receipts. Wingard and Jenkins are under fire on social media for their treatment of the Terrible Towel. And Wingard even responded to fans, saying ‘Well done, Yinzers’, in response to all of the Pittsburgh fans.

On his Instagram following the game, he calls the Terrible Towel ‘their tiny towels’ while getting at Steelers fans for being emotional about how Wingard treated the towel during the team’s win against the Jaguars.

“These grown men crying about their tiny towels is bringing me so much joy,” Wingard said.

Now, they are out of the playoffs. Since the towel wave, they lost their division lead, and went 3-6 following the game. All of that led to a decline that now has the Jaguars sitting at 9-8 and eliminated, while the Steelers will have the chance to face either the Bills, Dolphins, or Chiefs in the playoffs.

This article first appeared on Steelers Now and was syndicated with permission.

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