OXNARD, Calif. 鈥� Every single player on the 草莓视频下载入口' 91-man roster is vying to be the best player in training camp, but only a handful are close to what George Pickens is doing in practice every single day, not a day passing without the Pro Bowl receiver putting multiple highlights on tape.
At times, he appears invulnerable to coverage, but the highlights aren't his favorite part of being in Southern California. Operating under a franchise tag for 2026, Pickens was sure to put to bed any speculation of a potential holdout or hold-in 鈥� present, accounted for and fully participating in every meeting and rep on the field.
That's because, as he tells it, this is about the brotherhood in the locker room.
"Oh, pretty good," he humbly said of his stellar performance in camp thus far. "I kind of always take it one day at a time, and I [help] a lot of other guys who think they're not having such a good day. But for me, personally, anytime I can be really around the guys or the team, I feel like I'm having a good day 鈥� whether I catch 100 balls or if I catch none."
That speaks to the maturity of Pickens heading into Year 5, as does the fact he is embracing the added conditioning drills head coach Brian Schottenheimer has installed following full padded practices.
Pickens harkens back to his days under head coach Kirby Smart in Athens, when it was a regular occurrence that helped the program break a decades-long national championship drought, then repeating as champions the very next season.
"It's super good," he said of the post-practice run drills. "I did that when I played at the University of Georgia too, and we also won a championship as well there 鈥� back to back years. I feel like when you're running, it's probably painful because you just did a whole practice, but conditioning is another component of the game that can definitely give you an edge."
And that edge is something Pickens 鈥� finishing the 2025 campaign with a career-best 1,429 receiving yards and nine touchdowns 鈥� is always chasing.
Absorbing competitive cues from three of the best NBA players of all-time, namely, Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, the 25-year-old native of Hoover, AL leans heavily into the Mamba Mentality from Bryant, but also the competitive fire and accomplishments of all three.
"Oh, I kind of always had it [in me], honestly," Pickens said of the Mamba Mentality, specifically. "When you hear me say that it doesn't matter what happens on the field or what happens on 鈥� I just want to do my best. When I say sentences like that, it's the mentality that I have.
"So just one day at a time, and keep getting better every day."
Needless to say, that is exactly what Pickens is doing in his second Cowboys' training camp: getting better every day. And so much so that if you blink, you'll miss one of his best plays but, no worries, because his best play feels like it's always his next play, anyway.
