Getty Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (L) talks with head coach Sean McDermott (R) at Highmark Stadium.
The Buffalo Bills mandatory minicamp was a rollercoaster of drama with Stefon Diggs‘ bizarre absence from practice on Day 1 and head coach Sean McDermott’s attempt at damage control on Day 2.
While canceling the last day of minicamp is a normal move across the league, the Bills’ decision to do so only raised more eyebrows. Diggs did not address the media, so speculation over how or why the team’s No. 1 wide receiver and the Bills “got to a point… where we just felt like we all needed a break and some space,” as McDermott described, continued to grow.
One of the biggest fan theories, supported by former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson on ESPN, was that Diggs had issues with Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, who’s firmly in the hot seat heading into his second year in the role.
However, During an appearance on “Talking Buffalo,” The Athletic’s Tim Graham revealed the one detail he could confirm was that Diggs’ rift with the team is not due to a clash with Dorsey.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what is the issue and I don’t know. Everybody has been tight-lipped about it. I’ve been told that it is not Ken Dorsey if you want to strike that off the list. That’s about all I could wriggle out of one of my sources…
“I get as much information as I can before I have an opinion on something. So the fact that I don’t know what the issue is, it could be incredibly profound, it could be something really stupid and juvenile and silly. My only opinion so far is that this was an incredibly bad week for Buffalo Bills’ communications department.”
Stefon Diggs’ Relationship With Josh Allen Appears Solid
While outsiders scrambled to understand what’s going on between Diggs and the Bills organization, the three-time Pro Bowler shared a cryptic message on his Instagram Stories on Tuesday night. He wrote, “I just be letting people cap. If them lies help you sleep better tell em big dawg.”
Many fans and analysts believed Diggs was talking about Josh Allen. However when the 29-year-old attended practice on Wednesday, much to Bills Mafia’s relief, the superstar quarterback and his top offensive weapon looked like they had no beef between them.
After practice Diggs shared a photo of him and Allen on Instagram, which appears to confirm things are good between one of the scariest QB/WR duos in the NFL.
The Bills’ Public Mess With Stefon Diggs Could’ve Been Avoided
If McDermott simply said Diggs’ absence was excused on Day 1 instead of announcing that he was “very concerned” about the receiver not being there, this situation likely wouldn’t have blown up like it did. While McDermott said everything was basically “resolved” on Wednesday, it’s hard to trust that sentiment.
Graham said the flip-flopping of information was a rare loss for Bills’ culture. “If this wasn’t planned or expected or not well thought out before McDermott sat down on Tuesday, that in and of itself is a failure… self-inflicted wound, after self-inflicted wound, after self-inflicted wound from what McDermott said, to the bills tweeting it out as though it were breaking news with a photo of Diggs looking like he’s got an attitude and making sure that the “C” is on the shirt so you can see that he’s a captain – you could’ve used any photo!… A generic photo of a Bills helmet.”
“Bad week for Bills culture,” Graham concluded. And while we may never know why Diggs was upset, “This was a mess that didn’t have to happen.”
