Heading into the offseason, the New England Patriots had several things to take care of. They needed a new head coach, more talent on both sides of the ball, and an alpha wide receiver to help develop second-year quarterback Drake Maye. They thought they got that when they signed Stefon Diggs to a three-year, $63.5 million deal.
Diggs was coming off of a torn ACL, so his health was in question. There was also the thought that he may not be the same player he used to be. So far after a few weeks of training camp, Diggs’ health hasn’t really been an issue. He has been practicing frequently, but there’s something about Diggs that just seems off, aside from his off-the-field drama a couple of months ago. Diggs is seemingly “disappearing” from the Patriots offense as the regular season nears.
Stefon Diggs has apparently “disappeared” from Patriots offense in recent practices
Diggs’ performance during training camp has been described as “quiet” according to local reporter Phil Perry. According to Perry, Diggs “doesn’t look like a No. 1 receiver anymore“. It’s not just Perry who has noticed Diggs’ overall dip in performance. Karen Guregian of MassLive took it a step further, noting that Diggs has practically become an afterthought for Maye and the New England offense.
“Based on his ineffectiveness in recent outings, has he suffered some type of a setback? Is he unhappy about his touches? It’s hard to know for certain. But there’s little disputing the fact that the star receiver, who was the team’s best wideout early in camp, has disappeared from the offense in recent days.“
There have been signs over the past couple of seasons that Diggs isn’t the elite wideout he was leading up to age 30. While training camp practices don’t tell the full story, it certainly seems like Diggs is off to an ominous start in New England.
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