Cowboys' George Pickens explains his mindset after failed Steelers tenure

George Pickens received a fresh start when the Pittsburgh Steelers traded the mercurial wide receiver to the Dallas Cowboys in May. 

Pickens is now preparing to make his regular-season Cowboys debut at the rival Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night. He was recently asked if he feels he has something to prove coming off his Pittsburgh tenure. 

"Not really to prove anything," he responded, per The Athletic's Jon Machota. "Kind of just do what I’ve always been doing, just in a different system. I’m ready to kind of just show you guys a different version."

George Pickens flamed out with the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh selected Pickens in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and he was allegedly guilty of a "litany of violations" during his time with the organization. Both Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and team owner/president Art Rooney II made it known before Pittsburgh traded Pickens that they wanted to see the 24-year-old "grow up."

In the early days of his first training camp with Dallas, Pickens seemed to take a shot at his former team, saying he was "definitely excited to run better plays, for sure." According to Machota, Pickens was asked ahead of the Eagles matchup if he "felt like a Ferrari that was kept in the garage" over his first three pro seasons. 

"I wouldn’t say like a Ferrari, but just a different totem pole on a team," Pickens explained. "Steelers, you know, heavy on their defense. Coach [Tomlin] is a defensive guy, always been that way. And then here, [first-year Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer] is the complete opposite."

Schottenheimer was Dallas' offensive coordinator over the previous two seasons.

Both George Pickens and the Cowboys have a lot at stake

Pickens remains in the final year of his rookie contract as he gets ready to share targets with mentor and No. 1 Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. During a Tuesday appearance on ESPN, agent David Mulugheta suggested that Pickens would like "to be a star with a star on his helmet" as a member of the Cowboys beyond the upcoming season. 

If the Pickens experiment blows up in Dallas' face, however, things could go from bad to worse for the team that traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers.