ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs said he is grateful to have a supportive quarterback and stressed that he does everything he can to succeed and be a good teammate.
Obviously, I’m grateful to have a quarterback that has my back and someone that understands, someone that’s out there, someone that plays football,” Diggs said Thursday when asked asked about recent comments from quarterback Josh Allen. “For others, it’s difficult for me to express in words how much time and effort goes into football and how serious it is. When things aren’t going well and you put a lot of effort into and you want more for yourself, you want more for your team.
“…I don’t like to involve other people, but you might see the same things from other players at any given time, and it draws different conclusions. It’s easy to s “add or kind of say what I can to succeed on the football field and be a good teammate. So every time this comes up question, I feel like it’s okay… forget it. I’ve been the same guy .I’m not going to change who I am, how I am. I approach this game with love and respect and I’m going to continue to do so.”
Diggs’ comments came during his typical weekly news conference, a day after Allen said he was tired of “hearing all this nonsense from people” about the wide receiver’s actions on the sidelines.
Both players’ comments followed a televised incident in which Diggs slammed a tablet during the Bills’ 25-20 loss to the Jaguars. The moment was broadcast 5 minutes and 40 seconds into the third quarter of Sunday’s game. Diggs sat on the bench and slammed the tablet before throwing it on the ground as he stood up.
“He’s a competitor; he’s a fiery competitor. I’m tired of hearing all this nonsense from people,” Allen said. “There are a lot of guys in the league that have that same fire that we don’t talk about. He’s a lot of our juice on the sidelines, making sure the offense stays up and as energized as possible, and we feed on that.”
Diggs is in his third straight season as Bills team captain and has expressed many times in the past how important it is to win and be there for his teammates.
Coach Sean McDermott reiterated his support for Diggs on Thursday, saying: “Quite honestly, a lot of people are misunderstood. Some of what is seen or written, even to a certain extent, is not – the perception “It’s not always reality is the bottom line, right, this business. So, you know, he’s a heck of a competitor. And he’s one of the best leaders we have on game day, on from an energy point of view, from a competitive advantage point of view.
“So, yeah, I would echo Josh’s statement(s) that I believe he made yesterday about Stef. There’s no one better in terms of his approach to the game.”
The frustration seen in Diggs’ clip came amid the Bills’ second-lowest performance of the season (20 points). The team played in London and the offense came out of halftime with back-to-back drives ending in punts, including the drive just before the clip aired that began with a 48-yard pass to Diggs but ended three plays later with no more yards gained.
“That’s why I was so frustrated on the bench because, first of all, it was nine o’clock in the morning. I’m here sweating. I’m giving everything I have and I’m seeing the guys around me, everyone is like that, like damn, like why don’t things necessarily click the way we usually click,” Diggs said. “And I’m like, I had a moment looking at the iPad and I got lost and I’m like, this isn’t the iPad. It’s not the X’s and the O’s, it’s just us. It’s just me. And I felt like ”
The offense scored twice in the fourth quarter, but failed to come back strong, also committing two turnovers in the final quarter.
The Bills offense had produced three straight games with 37 or more points before the game against the Jaguars. Allen leads the league in completion percentage (73.1%) and Diggs is tied for the league lead with five touchdown receptions. He is also the only player to have at least 100 receiving yards in four games this season. With 100 receiving yards Sunday night against the Giants, he will become the fifth player in the Super Bowl era to record at least 100 receiving yards in five of his team’s first six games of the season (Marvin Harrison, Michael Irvin , Stanley Morgan and Adam Thielen).
Diggs said that while he receives a lot of attention largely for what he can do on the field, feeling understood by the general public is not a top priority.
“I’m here to do a job. If I want to be understood, that would mean I would care about opinions. I don’t necessarily care about opinions. I care about what matters most, and that’s my teammates, my family., people that I care about,” Diggs said. “Of course I want to touch every fan or every person that’s cheering for us, with a level of empathy because I understand what it’s like to watch a game and support a team and support someone, but to people who draw conclusions or negative things unnecessarily, I can’t fight that with anything but you don’t know me personally and I try to keep it that way.
“I try to be a little mysterious. I don’t really want people to know me on a personal level, because then maybe you’ll know a little more, so I just kind of keep it that way. J I like a model that is controllable or comfortable.distance that way.
