Stefon Diggs and the Buffalo Bills are fine.
Diggs, after missing the first of two mandatory minicamp practices last month, insisted Wednesday at training camp that he and coach Sean McDermott are good.
“It’s all water under the bridge,” Diggs said, via the NFL Network. “I know you guys haven’t spent too much time with me all offseason and I missed you guys, too, but all is well in the Mafia household.”
Diggs missed the first of two mandatory practices last month, which prompted McDermott to tell reporters he was “very concerned.” He didn’t elaborate on Diggs’ absence at the time, either, which only led to the speculation.
McDermott walked that back a day later, however, and said the two had talked at the facility that day. Diggs was apparently at the practice facility after all the day before, and the two just needed some space.
Stefon Diggs missed a mandatory minicamp practice last month, which led to speculation after coach Sean McDermott said he was “very concerned” about it. (AP/Adrian Kraus)
Diggs had 1,429 receiving yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns last season, his third with the Bills. It marked his fifth straight season with at least 1,000 receiving yards. The 29-year-old is entering the second year of a four-year, $96 million deal this fall.
Diggs sounded extremely frustrated after the Bills were knocked out of the divisional round by the Cincinnati Bengals last season. The Bengals rolled over the Bills 27-10, and Diggs left that game with just 35 yards on four receptions. Quarterback Josh Allen didn’t throw a single touchdown.
It marked the third straight year that the Bills, despite winning their division, failed to reach the Super Bowl. That, Diggs said, is what he and McDermott were talking about. It was a conversation they needed to have and work through.
“Everyone has family issues, everyone has family problems in the house,” Diggs said, via the NFL Network. “Obviously, the way we lost was just terrible in any regard. You don’t want to lose any game. We’ve lost for a couple of years at this point. We’ve been trying to get over the hump, and obviously it caused a lot of frustration.
“But in all, as far as with that, I was here. We did have a conversation. … I look at football like it’s a business at the end of the day, but when you go out there and fight tooth and nail, you put a lot of sweat equity into this thing, it starts to feel like a family. So, for me ,I kind of keep everything in house. At the end of the day, we had those conversations and everything that needed to be said was said, and we talked it out as men, everybody involved.”
While this incident provided a bit of offseason drama for the Bills, Diggs is just ready to move on.
He said Wednesday that he still wants to retire with the organization one day, and that he’s in a good place with McDermott entering his ninth season in the league. And, with McDermott calling defensive plays this season, it’s not like the two will be butting heads on that front.
“I also feel like I’m not a corner or DB. It’s not like I got to get some play calls from him,” Diggs said, via the NFL Network. “From a standpoint from a head coach, I have the utmost respect for him. He’s a guy that you can always have an open-door policy with and have conversations with him as a man, which is more important than football. I feel like we are on the same page moving forward.”
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