Stefon Diggs Has ‘Disappeared’ From Patriots Offense

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs sat out the team’s preseason opener against the Washington Commanders last Friday.

Diggs is recovering from last year’s ACL surgery and by most accounts, the offseason has been making solid progress in his return. The four-time Pro Bowler made headlines on Thursday, however, when he said of his Week 1 status, “we’ll see.”

When head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about Diggs’ response later in the day, the first-year man at the helm fired back at the reporter who brought the topic up but finished his thought with “we’ll see when Week 1 comes.”

Now, MassLive’s Karen Guregian is questioning the wideout’s status, noting that he was an “afterthought” during the Patriots’ joint practices against his former team, the Minnesota Vikings.

“Based on his ineffectiveness in recent outings, has he suffered some type of a setback? Is he unhappy about his touches? It’s hard to know for certain,” Guregian wrote. “But there’s little disputing the fact that the star receiver, who was the team’s best wideout early in camp, has disappeared from the offense in recent days. While he’s consistently been impressive in 1-on-1s, and 7-on-7s, he’s been an afterthought during full team drills.”

The columnist noted that the 31-year-old didn’t have a reception during Thursday’s 11-on-11 periods with the Vikings, making four of his last five team drills catch less.

Diggs is 10 months removed from suffering a torn ACL during Week 8 of the 2024 campaign while with the Houston Texans.

The Patriots host the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1 of the regular season at 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 7.