George Pickens had an underwhelming game during the Dallas Cowboys' 44-30 loss to the Detroit Lions last Thursday. This performance earned him criticism from retired Super Bowl champion Richard Sherman.The criticism turned into a feud between the two, with Pickens calling out the ex-NFL star in a deleted story on Instagram. On Sunday's episode of "NFL on ESPN," Alex Smith defended the Cowboys' WR while talking about his Week 14 performance."Listen, I thought the bigger question for Dallas for me is when they get away from Dallas. This team is struggling on the road," Smith said. "But for me, listen, I went back and watched every snap of this of George Pickens. Honestly, I think we're making a lot out of nothing."This guy got doubled all game. ... CeeDee Lamb, there's a reason he got so many targets in that first half. There was no help with him. ... There's a reason why Ryan Flournoy got all those targets in the second half, cause again, George Pickens was taking two. ... There was some funny plays. ... But this guy got everybody else open."Pickens' dad gave his nod of approval to Alex Smith's assessment of the wide receiver's performance against the Lions."Shout out to @AlexSmith. Somebody knows football. Instead of sitting up there trying to go viral."The wide receiver was targeted just nine times with 37 receiving yards on five receptions to his name. After the game, Richard Sherman said that George Pickens did not give 100% on offense, which contributed to the team's loss.Richard Sherman responds to George Pickens deleted Instagram story amid their online feudOn his deleted IG story, Pickens took a shot at Richard Sherman's NFL career, stating that his success was because he was a part of "The Legion of Boom" with the Seahawks."RICHARD P***Y A** SHERMAN WHO BTW AINT SHH WITHOUT THE LEGION OF BOOM WE ALL REMEMBER SAN FRANCISCO BROTHER," Pickens wrote.The former three-time All-Pro tweeted a response where he defended his NFL career and named some of his accomplishments apart from those with the Seahawks."Lol kid hasn't done enough to merit a response from me. I was working on my 3rd consecutive 1st team All Pro and 2nd SB Appearance at the same point in my career. Lol I made an All-Pro team and SB in SF but that's the fall off for me."This season, George Pickens has tallied 1,179 yards and eight TDs receiving for the Cowboys. They are next scheduled to face the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at 8:20 p.m. ET.