Stefon Diggs sounds off after postgame drama following Buffalo’s 27-10 loss to the Bengals
Orchard Park, NY– In today’s age of Twitter and the internet, it’s much easier to look inside the head of athletes. Especially after major drama erupts. Such was the case when Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs tried to go AWOL after a devastating loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional Round.
Towards the end of the game, Diggs appeared to be animated towards Josh Allen and the rest of the offense– who were held to a season low 10 points throughout the day. Diggs finished the game with 4 catches for 35 yards, not exactly the greatest performance in the biggest game of the season for Buffalo. This is the third straight year Buffalo has been knocked out of the playoffs, always seemingly never able to get over the hump in order to get themselves to the Super Bowl.
Diggs after the game also was rumored to leave early, sticking around for head coach Sean McDermott’s words, but making his way out the door until practice squad running back Duke Johnson shared a dialogue, convincing Diggs to return for a short amount of time before leaving once again with brevity along with other select teammates.
Stefon took to Twitter in order to clear up what was going through his head in a series of three distinct tweets. The first one stated, “Want me to be okay with losing? Nah.”
A second tweet published by Diggs surfaced shortly after, and he didn’t mince words when talking about the Bills’ performance on Sunday, “Want me to be okay with our level of play when it’s not up to the standard? Nah.”
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The third one read along the same lines, but seemed to address the public’s viewpoint of Diggs rather than the incident itself, “It’s easy to criticize my reaction more than the result.”
Josh Allen spoke on the incident shortly after the conclusion of the game in his post-game presser where he showed support for Stefon Diggs calling him a “fiery competitor” and that, “whatever it was that we couldn’t get him the ball tonight — we’re going to have to learn from.”
Other teammates have also rose up backing Diggs including Johnson— who brought Diggs back into the locker room after he tried to exit the first time. “Diggs didn’t have to listen to me. Diggs didn’t have to, he didn’t have to go back in there, but he chose to, because he also knew at that moment he was just upset,” running back Duke Johnson said. “So, I think it’s a lot of credit to him, as well, just because, again, he didn’t have to. He could have told me to [expletive] you feel me? So, at the end of the day, again, he’s emotional, it was a big, big step for him, and I appreciate him–for actually listening and going back in the locker room.”
Head coach Sean McDermott took Diggs’ side as well, stating that he is a “competitive individual”.
Diggs finished the year with 108 receptions for 1,429 yards and 11 touchdowns, a banner season for one regarded as a savant of the game. The Bills have lost 4 straight playoff games and 3 straight in the second round or deeper– an analogy that has been in parallel with the 1990-1993 Bills who lost 4 straight Super Bowls.
