George Pickens is already leaving a strong impression on Dallas Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer in the most important area

George Pickens wouldn't be able to hide his play making ability even if he tried his hardest to do so. But that's not the one thing that will make or break his first—and potentially only—season with the Dallas Cowboys.

What will make the difference is his maturity and work ethic. The former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver was responsible for emotional outbursts on the playing field and ruffled some feathers in his previous team because of tardiness among other behavior concerns. 

The hope for the Cowboys is his being traded away from the Steelers is a wake up call. So far, head coach Brian Schottenheimer is seeing a hard worker in him.

"I see a guy that's maturing," Schottenheimer told reporters about Pickens. "He obviously is a tremendous athlete but I love watching him in meetings because in meetings he's been so dialed in, taking great notes."

While Pickens being locked in during meetings as he joins a new offense should be expected, it's still a big positive for the head coach to go out of his way to point out he's showing increased maturity. Schottenheimer did say he's still behind in learning the offense, so the discipline will be even more important for him moving forward. 

"He knows he's a little bit behind (. . .) in terms of what the veterans are doing but his intentionality in the meeting room has been really cool for me to see," Schottenheimer added.