Getty Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs on August 26, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.
A viral clip of Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs growing animated on the sidelines during the team’s 25-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 8 led to some criticism — but that wasn’t the whole story of Diggs’ day.
Diggs has been under scrutiny since the end of last season, when he was seen growing upset with quarterback Josh Allen on the sidelines during the team’s playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Diggs then continued to stir controversy over the offseason with a series of cryptic posts, culminating with him being sent home by the coaching staff on the first day of mandatory minicamp.
That put Diggs in the crosshairs when he was seen growing angry and slamming a tablet during Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars, but another video from later in the game showed a different side of the star receiver.
Stefon Diggs Pumps Up Crowd
The first video of Diggs was shared by the NFL Network, showing him sitting on the bench in frustration as the Bills struggled to move the ball against the Jaguars. The Bills were held scoreless for most of the first half before scoring a late second-quarter touchdown to cut the deficit to 11-7.
Stefon Diggs is not happy…
Some fans took aim at Diggs, believing that his reaction was a sign of more discontent with the team.
“Is dude ever happy on the sidelines?” one person shared on Twitter.
But some Bills fans came to his defense, noting that Diggs was just unhappy that his team was losing and nothing more. Another fan shared a video from the fourth quarter that showed Diggs standing on the bench and encouraging the crowd to get loud as the Bills tried to make a key stop against the Jaguars.
I see videos getting angry and people saying the Bills should trade him. This was after that video, late in 4th Quarter tell me @stefondiggs doesn’t want to be here
“I see videos getting angry and people saying the Bills should trade him. This was after that video, late in 4th Quarter tell me @stefondiggs doesn’t want to be here,” noted The UK Bills account, which originally shared the video on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Diggs Shares Thoughts on Loss
The Bills came under criticism for their decision to travel to London late in the week, with the team departing on Thursday for the Sunday contest. Other teams playing in London have decided to leave earlier in the week, giving players longer to adjust to the travel and time change.
While Diggs didn’t speak directly to the team’s decision to leave late, he did say the team seemed to lack their normal amount of energy.
“I felt like we did have a little – I’m not gonna say (we were) lackadaisical – but we were kind of just (didn’t have that) let’s go get it, let’s get after it, (attitude)” Diggs said, via Syracuse.com. “We were trying to figure it out but that lack of sense of urgency, it showed.”
Diggs added that the team had a difficult time in playing with an appropriate sense of urgency, even though the team worked on that scenario before in practice.
“We have it in practice and you try to build off of it in the game. It’s supposed to be easier,” he said. “You work hard in practice and it’s (supposed to) carry over,” he said.
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