Mike Vrabel’s first training camp as head coach of the New England Patriots has been almost completely drama-free.
That changed a bit on Thursday, thanks to Stefon Diggs.
The veteran receiver played coy in an interview with Dianna Russini, unwilling to say whether or not he plans to be available to play in Week 1 as he continues to recover from the torn ACL he suffered last season. Phil Perry asked Vrabel about those comments on Thursday morning in Minnesota, and Vrabel was very much not interested in entertaining the question.
“Did you really believe that, Phil? I mean, you’re a smart guy. I don’t know where you went to school — it wasn’t Ohio State. But do you really believe that? Do you really believe that, Phil, or are you just trying to bait me into something?” Vrabel responded.
That spirited back-and-forth set the table for some added focus being placed on Diggs, who’s been a full participant since training camp began.
Yet between Vrabel’s impatience on that question, receivers coach Todd Downing’s recent comments on Diggs’ track for improvement, and Diggs’ own assessment that he might have done too much work this summer on a recovering knee, Tom E. Curran noted there may be some “gathering smoke” hovering around the veteran receiver. Curran asked Perry on Quick Slants if this may be a potential issue.
“It’s interesting, Tom, because there are little signs that he’s just becoming a bit of a pain in the posterior,” Perry said of Diggs, referencing Vrabel’s temperament at the podium. “For Mike Vrabel to sort of have to be [Diggs’] public relations assistant and tell us what he really meant in his commentary to a member of the national media, I don’t know if that irks Mike Vrabel or if he’s just looking to go back and forth with somebody in the media.”
Perry then noted that while Diggs has displayed plenty of skill on the field this summer, his overall performance has been “quiet.”
“It all sort of adds up to, there’s a lot going on with this guy for a guy who doesn’t look like a No. 1 receiver anymore,” Perry said.
Perry added some more detail to that thought on Early Edition.
“He’s looked fine throughout. It hasn’t been the loudest camp from him, 11-on-11 periods in particular, I think he’s been relatively quiet,” Perry said. “It’s interesting timing with all this too, because I feel like over the course of the last two days [in Minnesota], he’s had some of his most impressive moments physically. We’ve seen him win down the field, which he hasn’t done really all camp. … I think he’s actually had a pretty good couple of days of camp.
“It’s just interesting that he would choose to use this interview with Dianna to kind of overshadow everything that he’s done, which in my opinion has been pretty good, based on other stuff that we’ve seen from him in camp.”
Perry was then asked if Diggs would be worth a headache for the team.
“How severe a headache is it? Because if we’re talking migraine, if it turns into a migraine, I’m gonna say no. I just don’t think he’s a No. 1 receiver at this point in time,” he reiterated. “Let’s rephrase that: If he’s a headache, in my opinion, not worth it. He’s a No. 2 at this point in his career. I don’t think he’s going to be a thousand-yard receiver. I think Pop Douglas will be the guy who ends up getting more targets and ends up with more yards than him this year. I also think Kayshon Boutte is sort of coming along here. … I would hate to see a promising, young receiver have his growth stunted by a guy — if he is going to be a headache — who’s a headache.”
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