AFC Notes: George Pickens, Mike Tomlin, Ravens, Steelers

Ravens

Ravens WR Odell Beckham, Jr. said he was set to join the Jets before the Ravens offered him a contract in free agency.

“I think in my heart, I was set to go back to New York and be a Jet,” Beckham said, via Ravens Wire. “My heart desired to be in New York again. …They just kind of slow-played the offer or felt disrespected. They just kind of thought that they had in the bag and that they were the best team and it would be a privilege for me to be over there.”

Steelers

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin spoke about the fines levied on WR George Pickens, as Jonathan Jones reports that Pickens has been fined at or above $200,000 this year by the NFL and the Steelers combined this season.

The NFL has fined Pickens a total of $33,441 in publicly available fines for unnecessary roughness and unnecessary conduct. Team fines and other league fines are not included in this figure.

“I would like him to be more professional in terms of addressing some of his shortcomings with you guys in order to further add fluidity to the process,” Tomlin told the media. “He’s not helping himself, he’s not helping the process in the manner in which he has dealt with you guys. But the manner in which he deals with you guys is not necessarily the manner in which he deals with us or himself regarding acknowledging where he is or where he needs to go.”

Steelers

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said the team’s playoff win drought is his burden to carry and not the team’s.

“Not necessarily for our guys. That’s my story,” Tomlin said, via Steelers Wire. “That’s not Herbig’s story. In 2016 Herbig was probably in ninth grade. A guys like Elandon Roberts was playing for another team. It’s not their burden to bear. I don’t ask them to tote my luggage. I don’t project my luggage onto them. This is the 2023-24 Pittsburgh Steelers, and I’m concerned about this journey and rallying cries as it pertains to this group. And sometimes you’re kidding yourself if you think history like that is important to guys who weren’t a part of it. It’s not.