Dallas Cowboys legend Troy Aikman blasted the effort of one of the team’s wide receivers following a Week 6 loss, calling the showing the worst he has ever seen from the position.
Aikman, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion, made the comments Friday on The Cowboys Fish Report without naming the player.
“I won’t name names, but there’s one particular player, I was embarrassed,” Aikman said. “It’s the worst performance I’ve ever seen from a wide receiver on a football field.”
Observers quickly linked the remarks to George Pickens after the Cowboys fell 13-23 to the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 18 at Lambeau Field.
Pickens finished with six receptions for 73 yards on 11 targets in the defeat. The Cowboys managed just 48 rushing yards as a team. Through six games, Pickens has 33 catches for 428 yards and one touchdown on 52 targets. His yardage ranks 12th among qualifying wide receivers.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer publicly questioned Pickens’ blocking effort in the run game earlier in the week.
“But he needs to understand that he impacts us in the running game as well,” Schottenheimer said. “And he’s got to do the same thing in the run, picking up safeties and blocking corners, just like [running back] Javonte [Williams] does picking up blitzes so he can catch balls. And that’s part of the team-first mindset, and GP does understand that.”
Dallas ranks near the bottom of the league in rushing, averaging roughly 76 yards per game and running the ball on about 32.5 percent of its plays.
Pickens addressed the criticism Friday and framed the issues as collective rather than individual.
“I feel like as a team, I feel like run, pass, a lot of stuff,” Pickens said. “You know what I mean? One week it was, you guys were saying defense; one week you were saying this. I feel like if you narrow the comments down, you’re talking about the team. So most definitely, I feel like as a team, just keep improving.”
When asked how he could get more involved on offense, Pickens gave a brief reply.
“Well, I’m doing what they tell me to do,” Pickens said. “So, do what they tell me to do.”
Pickens is playing the 2026 season under a one-year franchise tag valued at $27.2 million after the Cowboys declined to sign him to a long-term extension following a 2025 season in which he posted 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns.
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons also criticized Pickens’ apparent engagement in the Packers game.
“I don’t know who was less interested in the (Cowboys-Packers) game tonight other than me, but George Pickens was up there,” Simmons said. “Pickens thinks the franchise tag means that he’s playing tag football, not actual football.”
Aikman played alongside Hall of Famer Michael Irvin on the Cowboys’ 1990s championship teams. Irvin was known for his intensity and willingness to compete through any physical challenge.
The Cowboys enter Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a 2-4 record. Both teams sit third in the NFC East.
Prescott completed 34 of 54 passes for 258 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions against Green Bay. The offense totaled 303 yards.
