The real reason has been revealed for the benching of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens last Monday.
Pickens and fellow Cowboys pass catcher CeeDee Lamb both missed the first drive of their game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
While Lamb’s benching was due to him and Pickens missing curfew on Sunday due to being out late for dinner and drinks at a casino, team executive vice president Stephen Jones said that Pickens was also benched for missing the team bus.
This led to Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer sitting both players for the first series of the contest.
Following the game, Schottenheimer revealed that the two stars were told of the disciplinary actions against them prior to the matchup.
Speaking about his coach, Jones told Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan, ‘He’s not going to play favorites with anybody.
The Cowboys benched George Pickens for the first drive after missing the team bus to a game
Pickens (R) and teammate CeeDee Lamb (L) were both sat after they stayed out too late
‘He felt very strongly [about] that, that was part of it. I think a lot of people thought they had to be together because they are great friends, but believe it or not, one was of the night before leading into the morning and the other one was missing the buses.’
Team owner and general manager Jerry Jones also spoke to the radio station in a separate interview – indicating he had an issue with the timing of the two receivers’ outing.
‘I don’t have any problem with partying, but when we’re rolling in there and we have our special teams meetings, which usually has most of the team, but still, the idea is this is a business trip,’ Jerry told the station.
Both Pickens and Lamb returned to the game. They combined for 14 catches and 210 yards – while they both caught for one touchdown.
Dallas defeated Las Vegas 33-16 to move to 4-5-1 on the season.
