Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) – After the Buffalo Bills finished practice on Wednesday, head coach Sean McDermott clarified why Stefon Diggs wasn’t at practice on Tuesday.
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"Let me be clear: 'Stef' did everything that he was asked to do. He was here Monday and executed his physical on time. 'Stef' reported Tuesday and reported for meetings, at which time we had a good conversation, great communication," said McDermott during his press conference with the media. "We got to a point yesterday where we just felt like we all needed a break and some space. So I gave 'Stef' permission to get some space and head out, and then picked up those conversations after practice. It was not 'Stef' leaving unexcused, he was excused by me.
"Those conversations have got us to, what I think and believe is, a great spot. Sometimes you've got to have conversations, you need to communicate, and I appreciate 'Stef', being willing to communicate. I thought he did a great job, and you guys need to understand 'Stef's' a valuable member of this football team. He's one of our captains and a leader on this football team. He works extremely, extremely hard, as hard as any player I've been around to be elite in this league, and that's what he is. And I love him."
McDermott didn’t communicate any of that on Tuesday when he spoke with the media. He was asked about his level of concern and said he was "very concerned". McDermott explained his reasoning for why he said what he said.
"Whenever a player has something going on or he's not here for some reason, I am concerned. That's my sentiment with any player, in particular a player as important to us as 'Stef'. So I get concerned when players miss for reasons off the field, for reasons on the field there. Whether it'd be they're injured or whatever it is, that's just how I am.
"When I say 'very concerned', I'm very concerned because of the situation with one of our players, and it was something that we needed to work through. Those are healthy conversations that happen, and I'm extremely appreciative of those conversations. When you have those healthy conversations, it gets you to a better spot. And I feel good about that. I feel like we're in that spot."
Many felt Diggs could’ve been used more in the final games leading up to the playoffs. McDermott wouldn’t get specific, but did say everything is looked at.
"We take a hard, hard look at the season in review, and we come out of those meetings with some real truths about what we could have done better," McDermott said. "Listen, getting 'Stef' the ball is an important part of our offense. There's no reason to say it isn't. He's the big focal point of our offense in addition to Josh. So it's important to to get him going, and the more production he has, the more production we have as an offense. Those usually work hand-in-hand. I've said it before, he provides great energy to our football team overall, not just offensively, but defensively and special teams. That's big for us."
The Bills were scheduled to have one more day of mandatory minicamp on Thursday, but that practice has been canceled by the team. Now the players have a break for the summer before training camp begins in late July.
