
Mike ReissOct 1, 2025, 06:00 AM ET
- Mike Reiss is an NFL newsman astatine ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN successful 2009. In 2019, helium was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- On Sunday evening, Stefon Diggs entered the New England Patriots auditorium and stepped up to the podium with an energetic hop.
"Everyone looks truthful comfortable," helium said, greeting the media with a smile.
The Patriots had conscionable cruised to a 42-13 victory implicit the Carolina Panthers, successful which the wide receiver, too, looked comfortable. For the archetypal clip successful 22 games, helium crossed the 100-receiving yard threshold. He called it a "turn the corner" day.
"I'm conscionable ace excited and privation to support building," Diggs said.
When the Patriots signed the four-time Pro Bowler to a three-year, $69 cardinal contract successful March, determination were galore uncertainties.
It was chartless if Diggs, who sustained a torn close ACL past October, would beryllium acceptable for the commencement of the 2025 regular season. If helium was, determination was nary warrant helium could erstwhile again present arsenic a No. 1 receiver successful his 11th NFL season. Or however helium would acceptable into the caller Patriots authorities led by manager Mike Vrabel and violative coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Those questions percolated successful the outpouring erstwhile Diggs was successful and retired of the team's voluntary workout programme which had an different precocious attendance rate. He made headlines by appearing successful a video connected a vessel that went viral, forcing Vrabel to code it.
Behind the scenes, though, Diggs was moving hard to rehab his ACL wounded successful Florida and to get backmost connected the tract arsenic rapidly arsenic possible. He was ready by grooming camp, with his idiosyncratic diversion trainer calling it a "historically fast" recovery.
Now 4 weeks into the 2025 season, Diggs, 31, is emerging arsenic an perfect acceptable with the Patriots.
"Putting successful that time, putting successful that grind passim camp, I consciousness similar you don't cognize what it's going to beryllium similar until the play is here. That's erstwhile the pedal hits the metallic and you get your assurance from increasing wrong the strategy and getting utilized to a strategy and a backmost -- and each these things are marque caller to me," Diggs said Sunday.
"My absorption has ever been grinding and I'm going to fig it out. I'm astir apt going to enactment a small harder now, due to the fact that erstwhile things are going right, you can't unbend and get complacent."
Diggs present has momentum heading into a crippled helium said helium has been looking guardant to, returning to look his erstwhile team, the Buffalo Bills, connected Sunday astatine Highmark Stadium (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC) -- a contention marking the archetypal clip Diggs volition play successful Western New York, wherever helium was erstwhile backmost Josh Allen's go-to target, since the Bills traded him to the Houston Texans successful April 2024.
The 2015 fifth-round prime ranks sixth successful receiving yards (10,704) and touchdowns (70) since entering the NFL a decennary ago.
While his on-field performances proceed to germinate with the Patriots, Diggs has besides emerged arsenic a person successful the locker room. Since joining the team, Diggs has inspired teammates with pregame speeches. He has besides developed a rapport with second-year backmost Read Entire Article

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