Diggs: Issues prior to Bills training camp 'water under the bridge'

Pittsford, N.Y. (WBEN) - There has mostly been radio silence from Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs since the team's early exit from the 2022 NFL Playoffs at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Not only did Diggs not speak following the loss in the AFC Divisional Round, but he was also quiet this offseason, especially after having an excused absence from the first practice of mandatory minicamp last month.

Despite showing some frustrations, Diggs was on-hand for Day 1 of Bills training camp on Wednesday at St. John Fisher University in the Rochester area, and seemed to get a warm welcome from the fans in attendance at the Polisseni Track and Field.

After Wednesday's opening practice, Diggs took to the podium for the first time since last season and expressed his happiness to be back on the football field with his teammates.

"It feels like it's been ages, a long offseason. I'm excited to see the guys," said Diggs following Day 1 of training camp. "You get away from football for a little bit, and then you start missing, you get that itch again just to be out there in the grass, and just running around, talking junk.

"I felt like football takes its toll on you throughout the year, but once it's done, it's like, 'Damn, I miss it.'"

When Diggs was excused from the first practice of mandatory minicamp in June, head coach Sean McDermott had originally stepped to the podium and expressed his concern about the veteran wideout being absent. The very next day, though, McDermott provided the clarity that he let Diggs take the day away from the facility to clear his head, and then come back the next day re-focused.

Diggs said McDermott admitted he had misspoken at that press conference to open mandatory minicamp, but when all was said and done, conversations will remain in-house, and the focus turns to the season ahead.

"Regarding last year, obviously the way we lost was just terrible in any regard. You don't want to lose any game, but we've lost for a couple years at this point. We've been trying to get over the hump, and obviously it caused a lot of frustration. But all-in-all, as far as with that, I was here. We did have a conversation, me and him did have a conversation. It's all water under the bridge now."

A lot of the frustrations for Diggs comes from the team's inability to get over the hump in his three seasons with the Bills. Given the talent in place and the results on the field in the regular season, he felt like the struggles to get over that hurdle prompted the need for a conversation. And Diggs is appreciative of the open door policy McDermott and the team has to allow for those conversations to take place in-house.

"I look at football, it's kind of hard. It's a business at the end of the day, but when you go out there and you fight tooth and nail, you put a lot of sweat equity into this thing, it starts to feel like a family," Diggs explained. "For me, I keep everything in house. But at the end of the day, we had those conversations, everything that was needed to be said was said, and we talked it out as men, everybody involved."

As the offseason progressed, there was wild speculation surrounding Diggs with whether or not he was happy with how the Buffalo offense was operating. This comes especially after the 29-year-old was visibly upset on the sidelines in the waning moments of the Bills' loss in the playoffs.

Diggs says it's crazy for anyone to think he wants more say in anything the offense is doing going forward.

"I play receiver. I don't care what play is called, I can't get in there and say, 'Call this!' It's a lot of outlandish things people were throwing out there," he said. "People were saying, as far as my role, I've been a captain on this team for three years. There's no question about my role and who I am as a player, how hard I work. Those things never had question marks, and you can't say the same thing for a lot of people in the league. As a player, who I am and what I am has always been represented. And what I do on a consistent basis, how hard I work, you can see it. And my teammates speak highly about me in that regard, especially considering I've been a captain since I got here."

Diggs also says the frustrations from last season did not come from his role, or lack thereof in the offensive system. He knows he's been an active part of the Buffalo offense since arriving in Western New York in 2020.

"If you look at the numbers, I've been North of 100, I think, every year since I've got here. It's not about targets," Diggs said. "As we're out there trying to make things shake, getting on the same page consistently. In those pivotal moments, in those moments where we're trying to make things happen. Last year, we had a real feast or famine time when we spent in the red zone, where we weren't clicking. We would have an amazing touchdown, and then we'll have a miscue. I take a lot of credit for that just as far as like, what could I do better? How much more time could I be putting into it?"

When it comes to his relationship with Josh Allen, Diggs says he continues to remain close with his quarterback, no matter the circumstances.

"That's my guy. That's why I say when it's family matters, me and him have a conversation," Diggs said. "If you've got kids or you have siblings, you all don't always get along. Me and him never did not get along. That's still been my guy, that's always gonna be my guy. So yeah, we're fine."

As for Allen, he says he's been able to talk with Diggs further since the issues at mandatory minicamp. As they have moved on from what transpired last month, Allen says the focus is on this season and setting goals for the team.

"We want to bring a Lombardi Trophy here come February, so just making sure, again, that everybody on the team is on the same page striving to have that singular goal, that's all it is," said Allen during his meeting with the media on Wednesday.

As for his relationship with offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, Diggs knows it was impressive for him to play his part in helping the Bills to a 13-3 regular season record. His confidence level is high in the second-year offensive coordinator, and feels he will only get better with more experience.

"I just felt like those couple of games that we did lose, we lost by one or two miscues. And I feel like he does everything that he can to put us in a position to win, and I love him," Diggs said. "You've seen him a little bit last year, getting a little wild in the booth. From that standpoint, I feel like I love it. I feel like going into the second year, I hope it happens again."

While Diggs understands there is likely more football behind him than there is ahead of him, there is still plenty of gas left in the tank before he ends up calling it a career in the NFL. He reiterated his interest on Wednesday in being able to retire from football as a member of the Bills, saying he's "100%" on board with that.

Bills general manager Brandon Beane doesn't seem to have any problem with the emotions Diggs showed, as he can appreciate his high level of compete and willingness to win at all costs.

Every time we've talked about Stef, love Stef. He's a competitor, and I find myself as very competitive too. He just wants to win, nothing wrong with that," said Beane on Wednesday in his meeting with the media at training camp. "We all do it different ways, but Stef's in a good spot, I think. The offseason is the offseason, we're all going different ways. Especially as players, that last game ends and you don't get to go back and review the film with everyone and see what happened. It's just tough."

Beane shares some of the frustrations with Diggs, as he has been wanting to win a Super Bowl since arriving in Buffalo in 2017. Beane believes nobody's walking out of the locker room smiling following a lose like the team suffered against Cincinnati.

However, Beane knows that Diggs is not the first person to voice frustrations before. It's on the minds of certain players when things may not be going as maybe expected, especially with the caliber of roster the Bills have.

In the end, Beane firmly believes the issues at hand have been resolved, and everyone is focused on the goals for the 2023 campaign.

"Listen, Stef wants to win. His bottom line is he wants to win," Beane said.
"Yes, he wants to contribute and he knows he's a talented player, but if we're struggling and he feels there's something, he's gonna voice it. That's who he is. I'm not trying to change that part of it. He works very hard. You guys see him out here, whether it's 1-on-1s, whatever it is, when he's out here, he's competing his butt off. So I can't predict anything, but I'm not worried about it. I'm not laying awake at night going, 'Oh, is something about to happen?' I think we're in a great spot."

So what does Diggs believe this team needs to do this season to finally get over that proverbial hump and take the next step? It's a matter of continuing to grind away.

"At this point, we've been doing everything that we can, we've got the right pieces. I feel like right now we're in a great spot, kind of falling to that little underdog, in the creases kind of role. People might be counting us out or putting us in a spot where they might not look at us as good as we might be or could be," Diggs said. "But I promise you, this team is damn near working hard. Today was the first day to get to where we want to go, and we've just gotta keep grinding. Obviously we have some bad luck here-and-there, things happen, good luck for the other side. Hopefully we get some luck too."

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