Cowboys’ George Pickens rips Richard Sherman: ‘Don’t speak on me unless you know the game’ – The Athletic
Trash talk was part of Richard Sherman’s playing career, and it has followed him into retirement. The analyst is now embroiled in a back-and-forth with George Pickens after he critiqued the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver’s play during Thursday’s 44-30 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Sherman said Pickens looked “uninterested in playing football.” Pickens posted five catches on nine targets, finishing with 37 yards, his second-lowest total of the season. It was the first time he failed to eclipse 50 receiving yards since the Cowboys’ season opener. He was targeted on an interception early in the third quarter and failed to track in a deep ball late in the fourth quarter.
“It doesn’t matter if the game is going your way or not going your way. You can’t just disappear like that,” Sherman said after the game on the Amazon Prime Video “Thursday Night Football” game. “You can’t be the guy and half-ass it. I’m sorry, it’s unacceptable.”
Pickens responded in a since-deleted stories post on Instagram. He pointed to the Lions devoting two coverage defenders to him, particularly after Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb exited the game in the third quarter with a concussion.
“This is a team game lmao. I’m not the only one on the team. Stop becoming an analyst and talking about one player when he playin’ a team’s game. Lots of shh has to go right for explosive plays. And it’s funny cause I thought former players would know that such as p— ass Richard Sherman, who btw ain’t shh without the Legion of Boom,” Pickens wrote. “We all remember San Francisco, brother. Much love. Don’t speak on me unless you know the game of football. As a former player, not a d—riding fan/analyst that act like double team is not a thing or certain bracket coverages don’t exist. Knowing you played ball, which show me you a leach, weirdo. Now Twitter eat this up. Clouted ah wrld.”
On Friday, Sherman responded in a series of posts on X. He defended his performance during his three years with the San Francisco 49ers, highlighting his 2019 second-team All-Pro selection. Sherman clarified that he wasn’t against Pickens personally but was pointing out areas where he needed to improve, adding that Pickens had not done enough to “merit a response from me.”
Lol kid hasn’t done enough to merit a response from me. I was working on my 3rd consecutive 1st team All pro and 2nd SB appearance at the same point in my career. Lol I made an ALL-Pro team and SB in SF but that’s the fall off for me. https://t.co/r0u3yAPoBR
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) December 5, 2025
“You can’t analyze the game anymore unless you put kid gloves on. If they are lazy on film you can’t say it. Just have to wait for a highlight and ignore all the bad,” Sherman posted. “He’s been playing like one of the best in the league! Then goes out and plays like he has better things to do than be out there.”
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said he would speak to Pickens about the receiver’s post. Schottenheimer said he didn’t have an issue with Pickens’ effort Thursday.
“I’m aware of what was supposedly put out there,” Schottenheimer said Friday. “I’ve not talked to him yet. I understand it’s been taken down, but I will be talking to him, just checking on him. Again, this is unfortunately things that we deal with in this profession. But I have not spoken to him, but I will.”
Pickens is approaching free agency and is expected to command a sizable long-term deal on the open market. Sherman argued that performances like Thursday’s should give the Cowboys pause before making that investment.
“If you’re the Dallas Cowboys and you’re looking to pay him big-time receiver money, $40 million, you got to look at this game and say, ‘Is this the guy we can trust paying $40 million to show up regardless of circumstance?’ I don’t know,” Sherman said on the postgame show.
The 24-year-old Pickens developed a reputation with the Pittsburgh Steelers for taking plays off, and while he has mostly avoided issues in Dallas, he was suspended for the Cowboys’ opening drive against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11 for violating team rules.
Pickens has already set career highs this season in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, and his 1,179 receiving yards are second in the NFL, trailing the Seattle Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba (1,336).
