Stefon Diggs makes early impression in return to Patriots practice
The receiver looked like he might be in hot water after a video surfaced of him on a yacht handing out an unknown substance to a group of women. On Monday, however, Diggs walked onto the Patriots practice field and said, 'Nice to see you' to a crowd of reporters.
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Diggs was limited in practice but looked good for a player who suffered a torn ACL last fall.
Before practice, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said he wasn't worried about Diggs on the field.
'He's here today and we're excited to have an opportunity to work with the guys that are out here and available to us,' McDaniels said. 'I know he's staying up on the information and the material. There's so many things and opportunities for us to teach all of our guys going forward... I'm not concerned about Stef in that regard.'
The veteran receiver had a notable burst of speed during position drills. Diggs was among the Patriots receivers to go first in these drills. After warming up, he caught several passes from Maye. These drills didn't have any defensive players on the field, but Diggs caught every pass thrown to him.
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When the Patriots broke off into competitive team drills, Diggs worked off to the side with Patriots offensive assistant Riley Larkin and receiver Ja'Lynn Polk. The veteran never took a rep in competitive drills but did participate in the walk-through portion of practice.
Diggs was on the field with Maye and that offensive group.
The Patriots signed Diggs to a 3-year, $69 million contract this offseason. The hope is that the 4-time Pro Bowler will give the Patriots offense something they've lacked in recent years.
This marks the final week of Patriots OTAs. Diggs hadn't been seen at the other two open practices – but the team did put out a photo of him at one practice during the first week of OTAs.
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On Monday, Patriots receivers coach Todd Downing said that Diggs' viral video wasn't a distraction for his position group.
'The easy part has been that I'm going to coach really hard the guys that are here practicing,' Downing said. 'Obviously that stuff that you mentioned was not here. So, I really kept my focus on the guys that were here and trying to help them get better and become the players they want to be.
'As far as the conversations with Stef – I'll keep the stuff that we talk about between the two of us.'
Diggs, who isn't a full participant due to the knee injury, has said he wants to be ready by the Patriots season opener. Downing noted it's easy to see how hard the receiver has been working this offseason.
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'He's working hard,' Downing said. 'I think there's a little carryover with the stuff he did in Buffalo with (Brian) Daboll back in the day. So there's a little bit of a refresher course. But yeah, he's been working hard.'
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