George Pickens responds to Richard Sherman's criticisms after Cowboys' loss to Lions

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens was the subject of criticisms from fans posting on social media and other observers during and after the club's 44-30 loss at the Detroit Lions on Thursday night that dropped the Cowboys to 6-6-1.

Perhaps most notably, former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman said during the Prime Video "Thursday Night Football" postgame show that Pickens "looked uninterested in playing football" and "can’t just disappear in these games." Somewhat interestingly, Pickens seemed to agree with Sherman following the defeat. 

George Pickens offers honest assessment of performance vs. Lions

"For myself personally, you can’t just disappear," Pickens acknowledged, per Joseph Hoyt of The Dallas Morning News. 

On the first offensive play of the game's third quarter, a catchable ball thrown to Pickens by quarterback Dak Prescott deflected off the wideout's hands and resulted in a Lions interception. Detroit scored a touchdown just two plays later. 

On Dallas' following offensive drive, Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb went down with a concussion. Prescott and Co. likely hoped that setback would light a fire under Pickens, but that never seemed to be the case. 

With under two minutes remaining in regulation, Pickens got behind two Detroit defenders but then made no real play on a ball that fell to his right. In the end, he finished the game with five receptions on nine targets for 37 yards with no touchdowns, an offensive pass interference penalty and a face mask foul attached to his box score stats. 

ESPN stats show that Pickens began Friday ranked second in the NFL with 1,179 receiving yards, seventh with 78 receptions and tied for third with eight touchdown catches on the season. 

"Schematically, as a reporter, whatever [Sherman’s] job holds, and he played ball, he has to understand the type of defense the Lions were running," Pickens said. "...Overall, as far as the camaraderie of the game, it just didn’t go our way." 

Dak Prescott challenges George Pickens after loss

Earlier on Thursday, a report shared that Prescott "has a unique way of knowing when to keep a guy accountable and knowing when to pull off" as it pertains to Pickens. Prescott seemed to challenge Pickens following Thursday's loss. 

"When you’re playing the way that he’s playing, when you’re the type of player that he is, I’d be the first to say it’s hard to do that week in and week out, but I think George can. I know George believes he can," Prescott said. "And I think he would say that this game wasn’t up to his standard, and I’m sure he’ll own it, and I know he’ll be better." 

Prescott added that his connection with Pickens "wasn’t to our standard" at Ford Field. It was a bad time for that to be the case, as Prescott knows the Cowboys will now likely need some help in order to qualify for the upcoming postseason tournament.