Without referencing any teammate by name, tight end Pat Freiermuth appeared to criticize George Pickens on Sunday for the frustrations the wide receiver displayed during the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 20-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Asked Wednesday about making his feelings known in a public forum, Freiermuth believes he is permitted to do it because of the long-term commitment the franchise awarded him before the start of the season.

The Steelers signed Freiermuth to a five-year contract that includes a four-year extension worth $48.4 million.

“I always felt like I’ve been decently vocal, but now with long-term investment, I feel I have the right to speak up,” Freiermuth said. “I’ve earned that right, and I think guys on offense respect me enough to do that. I’m always going to be respectful, and I’m not going to do it in a way where I’m going to cause issues in the locker room.

“Guys understand what we need to do. We’ll continue to keep doing that, fix it and get better.”

In the aftermath of the Steelers’ last-second loss to the Cowboys, Freiermuth seemed to take a verbal shot at Pickens when he was asked about the way the targets were distributed in the offense. Freiermuth caught all three of his targets for 22 yards, and his 6-yard touchdown reception gave the Steelers a 17-13 lead with about five minutes remaining.

Pickens was targeted a team-high seven times but finished with three catches for 26 yards.

“I trust the coaching staff and what they are doing,” Freiermuth said after the game. “Everyone can (whine) and complain about getting a lack of targets, but it’s the stuff you do without the ball. That’s what leaders do, and that’s what good teammates do. I block my (butt) off regardless. The targets are going to find me. As long as I’m going out there doing my job, whatever is asked of me to do, I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.”

Pickens appeared to run at less than full effort on some of his pass routes. He had a third-down pass slip through his fingers, and his blocking has come into question since he admittedly did not block on a Jaylen Warren run near the goal line in December because he feared a risk of injury.

On Tuesday, coach Mike Tomlin said blocking isn’t necessarily part of Pickens’ job description.

“He’s a backside, one-on-one matchup, so oftentimes he’s not at the point of attack in the blocking game,” Tomlin said. “Blocking responsibilities within our scheme are more handled by guys like Van Jefferson, to be quite honest with you, if you want a transparent answer.”

Jefferson and third receiver Calvin Austin III each played more snaps against the Cowboys than Pickens, who was on the field for a career-low 59% of the offensive plays. Jefferson and Austin played 81 and 76% of the snaps, respectively.

Freiermuth was more sympathetic toward Pickens’ situation Wednesday.

“You have to be there for him as much as you can,” he said. “I understand where he’s coming from. It’s not out of a bad place. He wants to help us win as much as he can, and he’s a great talent. We have to understand that and be there for him.

“At the end of the day, he also has to understand it’s a team sport — and he does. We’ve talked about that. He’s practicing hard, he’s doing all the right things. He’s been in a great mood this week, so he understands what he needs to do.”

Pickens, though, hasn’t relayed any of his feelings publicly. He skipped his scheduled media session Wednesday, continuing his recent trend of avoiding the reporters. He was not available Monday when he was sequestered in an equipment room during much of a 45-minute interview period.

Pickens also has declined to speak post-game the past two weeks, a violation of NFL media policy. The league sent Pickens a letter Wednesday warning that the next offense will result in a fine. According to ESPN, Pickens already is being investigated for the choice of words he displayed on his eye-black tape during the game.

Pickens had the words “Open (Expletive) Always,” written on the tape, which is a violation of league rules about unapproved messaging.

Pickens also faces a fine for what transpired after the game when he put his fingers in the facemask of Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis and flipped him to the ground. It happened as Lewis was running past Pickens while celebrating the Cowboys’ win.

Tomlin said he was unaware of what Pickens had inscribed on his eye-black tape, but he did not condone the facemask incident.

“Regarding his behavior, I’m aware of that,” he said. “Obviously that has been and will continue to be addressed.”

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