On Thursday, Pittsburgh Steelers star wide receiver George Pickens prematurely ended his media availability after being asked about a costly interception in the team’s Week 17 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
And as a result, Alan Saunders, the reporter who asked the question, is now being criticized by some very angry Steelers fans.
In Week 17, the Steelers decisively lost their third consecutive game to the Chiefs. This obviously isn’t the type of streak any fanbase wants to see from their team leading into the postseason.
One play that looms large in that end result was an interception thrown by Russell Wilson in the first quarter on a pass attempt into the endzone to Pat Freiermuth.
“A GIFT FOR YOU!”
Justin Reid with the Christmas pick! 🎁#KCvsPIT on @Netflix pic.twitter.com/vA9YoCh8dY
— NFL (@NFL) December 25, 2024
In the play, you can see that Pickens cut his route short, making it pretty easy for Chiefs safety Justin Reid to come over and make the interception.
When speaking with reporters on Thursday, Saunders asked Pickens about his route on the play. He phrased it as if he and Russell Wilson were not on the same page.
“George, it seems like you and Russ weren’t on the same page on that interception against the Chiefs,” said Saunders. “How does that happen, and what do you do to address it?”
Pickens responded by essentially relaying Saunders’ question back to him.
“You said me and Russell wasn’t on the same page?”
Saunders replied by saying how Wilson had mentioned that they weren’t on the same page after the game.
“Yeah, well, that’s what he said,” added Saunders.
Pickens clearly wasn’t buying that Wilson had actually said this, again asking whether Wilson had made that comment or if Saunders had created this narrative.
“That’s what he said? Or is that what you said?”
Saunders again told Pickens that this is what Wilson said, which prompted Pickens to end the interview and walk off.
I asked #Steelers WR George Pickens about not being on the same page with Russell Wilson during the interception against the #Chiefs. pic.twitter.com/e5Lh314gSl
— Alan Saunders (@ASaunders_PGH) January 2, 2025
The question surrounding this interview is what Wilson said about the interception against the Chiefs.
In his postgame press conference immediately after the game, Wilson did say he expected Pickens to carry the route more vertically than he did. But Wilson did take the entirety of the blame for the turnover, which Saunders never mentioned to Pickens.
“Yeah, you know, I thought he was going to go vertical,” said Wilson. “But at the end of the day, it can’t happen. That’s on me. I was trying to give Pat a chance. He has done such a good job for us down in the red zone, and they made a good play.”
Wilson didn’t exactly say he and Pickens weren’t on the same page.
But these comments clearly show that he expected something different from Pickens on the play.
Regardless, Pickens clearly didn’t like the question. Steelers fans did, too, sending countless replies to Saunders’ post about the interview, accusing him of attempting to stir up beef between Wilson and Pickens.
Brother we’re clearly mad because of how you framed the question and left a part of the quote out. Not because you asked a question about communication.
— Logan (@light_switched) January 2, 2025
Not only did you say that Wilson said they weren’t on the same page when that is not what he said, but you conveniently left out the part where Wilson said it was his fault.
— Claire (@ClaireBear16374) January 2, 2025