George Pickens says he was trying to avoid an injury when he stopped engaging with Indianapolis Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones near the goal line on a first-quarter run by Pittsburgh Steelers teammate Jaylen Warren in Saturday's loss.

"I was just trying to prevent the Tank Dell situation, the same thing that happened to [him]," Pickens said. "I ain't want to get an injury. When you stay on the block too low, you can get ran up on very easily."

Dell, a wide receiver for the Houston Texans, broke his leg earlier this season when he was rolled up on in a goal-line scrum. Pickens, however, was one-on-one with Jones.

Pickens has drawn criticism for the play on which he appeared to make minimal effort in blocking Jones, resulting in Warren being tackled at the 1-yard line.

Pickens, though, brushed off the critiques about his effort.

"All the people that's questioning my effort don't play football," he said. "They do what y'all [the media] do."