FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs was present for the team’s voluntary organized team activity Monday after he was absent all last week and made headlines for a video on a boat that had head coach Mike Vrabel stressing the importance of good decision-making.
Diggs arrived on the field for Monday’s practice and waved to reporters, then said, “Nice to see you all.”
Stefon Diggs: “Nice to see you all.” pic.twitter.com/EPu9aNPVsU
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) June 2, 2025
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was among those who welcomed seeing Diggs, who according to teammates hasn’t been around much this spring since signing a three-year, $69 million contract.
“It’s a voluntary part of the year, we know that,” McDaniels said. “I don’t know if we have ever had perfect attendance at these things in general. As a coach, selfishly, you love it when they’re all here because you feel like you have them all in the classroom and on the field and all the rest of it. 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.
“I know he’s staying up on the information and material and there’s so many things and opportunities for us to teach all our guys going forward — between the rest of the practices in the spring and going into the summer and the many days we have before we actually kick the ball off in September. I’m not concerned about Stef in that regard.”
Diggs was the first receiver to take part in drills and looked quick and decisive changing direction and opening up in a sprint. He also caught passes from quarterback Drake Maye, running a variety of routes, in a lower-speed drill in which there was no defense.
Once the Patriots progressed into more full-team drills, Diggs was a spectator, as he is still recovering from a torn ACL sustained in Week 8 last season with the Houston Texans.
Wide receivers coach Todd Downing also noted Diggs’ return, while adding that he has been working hard to pick up the team’s system.
“As far as the conversations with Stef, I’ll keep the stuff we talk about between the two of us,” he said. “I think there’s some carryover from what he did in Buffalo with [Brian] Daboll back in the day, so there’s a little bit of ‘same as’ and a little bit of refresher course.”
