How Cowboys' full embrace of George Pickens has WR playing at All-Pro level, desiring to stay in Dallas

FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens had never received a hug from his head coach during a game in his four-year NFL career.

That changed during the Cowboys' 33-16 "Monday Night Football" victory at the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11. Pickens and All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb were benched for the opening series on Monday in Las Vegas for what at the time was simply revealed to be "a couple things" according to head coach Brian Schottenheimer. On Thursday, Lamb admitted the reason he and Pickens were benched was because they were out past curfew on Sunday night at Red Rock Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

Once Schottenheimer inserted Lamb and Pickens, particularly the 24-year-old free-agent-to-be, they both thrived. Lamb caught the first touchdown of the night, an 18-yard connection on a play-action toss play. The head coach then ran over to the two of them following Lamb's touchdown catch for a warm group hug on the bench. That marked the first time in Pickens' NFL career that a coach has given him a hug like that in the game. 

"Yeah, that's kind of like what I talked about in training camp too. His energy, you know what I mean?" Pickens said Thursday. "His energy is so vibrant, it kind of gravitates toward me and bro, CeeDee." 

Soon thereafter, Pickens erupted for 144 yards and a touchdown, from 37 yards out, on nine catches. His explosive Monday night on the field ran his receiving yards total to 908 this season, which ranks as the second-most in the NFL behind only Seattle Seahawks wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba's's 1,146. Pickens' 908 yards receiving through 10 games are the most in Cowboys history in a player's first 10 games with the team.  

His 10-game start with 908 yards and seven receiving touchdowns on 58 catches also makes Pickens the fourth player in Dallas Cowboys history with at least 900 yards receiving and seven touchdowns through 10 games. He is now alongside Hall of Famers Bob Hayes (1966), Michael Irvin (1995) and Terrell Owens (2007) in that exclusive club.

Schottenheimer may have disciplined Pickens and Lamb by sitting them out of the first drive of the game, but that's just a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things in Dallas. The Cowboys head coach and offensive play caller wants Pickens around for years to come. 

"Sign me up. I mean, what do you say? Those two guys, I just love their relationship, man. I love the firepower that they give us," Schottenheimer said on Tuesday. That's one of those games where you never know which one it's going to be. Some games it's both of them, some games it's one of them, and again, like I said, I pinch myself at times. Because when you're talking about you're Dak or the playcaller, like myself, you're like, OK, if we do this, which way do I throw it to? I like that matchup, but wow, that one is pretty good too. That's real. I'm very in favor of George having a long-term future with us."  

That sentiment certainly extends to Lamb as well despite having to share the WR1 role with Pickens after years of being quarterback Dak Prescott's unquestioned top target. After Wednesday's walkthrough practice, the team's first of the week after playing Monday at the Raiders, he and Pickens were walking side by side together off the practice and into the locker room. 

"It's amazing man. We feed off one another, and he gets us going. He understands that. He knows that. With the energy and everything that he does on the field, off the field, in the locker room, we're cheering -- vibin'," Lamb said on Thursday. "The list could go on and on. As far as everything that he's doing and accomplishing, I feel like the standard that has been set for before and all the antics they had going on about him, you don't see none of that going on here. We vibin'."

The edge that Pickens brings, which at times led to Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin to publicly challenge the wide receiver to grow up, is welcomed in Dallas. That edge can lead to four or five tackles being broken en route to a 21-yard gain on the field as it did in Monday's game. It can also lead to Pickens, for a reason he couldn't explain after the game on Monday, throwing himself into the goal post after scoring a 37-yard touchdown. 

"Absolutely. You need that. You need that tenacity," Lamb said of Pickens' edge. "To have that confidence that no one can do anything with you and he's standing at 6-foot-5, it's a tough task."

Pickens himself has said in the past that he was highly considering wanting to stay with the Cowboys on a long-term contract earlier in the season, but he's making it clear that he indeed wants to be in Dallas long term after his rookie contract expires this offseason. 

"Just staying connected with those guys, that's probably all I can say. ... Definitely me keeping relationships with them, still talking to them definitely is going to make me want to stay with them," Pickens said Thursday. ... "Yeah I would probably just say the camaraderie, and the stuff they had going on here before me is kind of what I gelled into. So definitely a good fit here at the Cowboys."

Pittsburgh viewed Pickens as a pariah in the locker room, which is why they traded him along with a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Cowboys this offseason in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick. In Dallas, he's the NFL's No. 2 leader in receiving yards after being welcomed with open arms -- quirkiness, emotions and all. 

"I feel like he's comfortable here. He's happy here. He has a home here, and he feels like he's accepted," Lamb said. "I feel like we did a great job, welcoming him with open arms, and everything he did in Pittsburgh? Bring that here. We're going to figure out everything else and how we have to grow as men and a football player off the field, but other than that, come be you. I feel like, with that, it was very easy for him. He understood that we weren't trying to change him. We wanted him to come over and do that, and that he's doing. He's actually exceeded that. Shoutout to GP, man."

Would Lamb say Pickens is being embraced, literally and metaphorically, more in Dallas than he was in Pittsburgh? 

"Yeah, absolutely," Lamb said. ... I feel like all we can control is what we do and how comfortable we make him and have him make an easier pitch as to wanting to be here. Us as teammates, we understand the situation, especially being that we've come from it recently, some maybe once or twice," Lamb said. ... "I'm sure that he wants to be here, how much fun he's having and everything he's accomplishing on the field. For us, as his teammates, I feel like it's pretty clear that we want GP back."

Knowing Lamb, Schottenheimer and others want him back long-term has Pickens feeling the same way. 

"I'd love to be back with bro [Lamb], especially him," Pickens said. "Dak, all the guys really." 

The connection with Schottenheimer is something that plays "a lot" into Pickens' feeling comfortable in his fit on the team and something he will heavily be weighing when figuring out how to handle his contractual future next offseason. 

"A lot. Me and Schotty, I think we're still getting even closer and closer. We were close before, and I feel now we're getting even closer," Pickens said. ... "Definitely with the types of plays and play calling. The stuff that he brings to the table, definitely a huge factor."

Prescott's word carries plenty of weight around the building in the Cowboys organization, and he's alrighty nudged both Pickens and owner and general manager Jerry Jones about getting the wide receiver re-signed. Now, the proverbial ball is in Jones' court. 

"I think that'd [re-signing Pickens] be a priority in the offseason. Right now, has it come up? Obviously probably it has maybe joking here or there, whether it be to George or whether it be to Jerry," Prescott said. "So all positive talks and conversations I would feel would start that the right way. But I'm all in for it."