Overview
- Coach Brian Schottenheimer, who made the comments in a Thursday media session, said Pickens must pick up safeties and block corners on running plays and described that work as part of a team‑first mindset.
- Pickens was listed as a limited participant in practice this week with a shoulder issue, but ESPN reporter Todd Archer and multiple beat writers say the limitation is not expected to keep him out of the next game.
- Statistically, Pickens’s counting numbers are similar to last year through six games, yet his big‑play output is down: he has 33 catches for 428 yards and one touchdown in 2026 versus 93 catches for 1,429 yards in 2025.
- Pro Football Focus ranks Pickens near the bottom among qualifying receivers as a run blocker (about 111 of 115), a shortfall that analysts link to one of the NFL’s weakest rushing attacks for Dallas and fewer explosive passing opportunities.
- Trade chatter — including reported Rams interest in adding a receiver before the Nov. 10 deadline — is complicated by Pickens’s one‑year franchise tag (roughly $27.3 million) and the Cowboys’ 2‑4 record, leaving Dallas with a live choice to trade him for assets or hold him to try to turn the season around.