Stefon Diggs Admits He Was in ‘Worst Mental Space’ in Final Season with Bills
By Joe Lago
Stefon Diggs never hid his unhappiness last season with the Buffalo Bills. Anyone watching their games on TV could see something was visibly bothering the four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver.
Unfulfilled preseason Super Bowl expectations can have an adverse effect. The front office acknowledged it was time for player and organization to part ways last April, when the Bills traded Diggs and a 2024 sixth-round pick to the Houston Texans for second-round and fifth-round selections in next year's draft.
In an interview with GQ Sports, the 30-year-old Diggs opened up about what went wrong in his final season in Buffalo.
“Last year, I was in the worst mental space I’ve been in since I’ve been in the league,” Diggs said. “If I'm not in a good space, obviously that's not the best for me. So that's when things had to start shaking out.”
Diggs pinpointed exactly when his mental health and 2023 season began to spiral — when Joe Brady was elevated to offensive coordinator to replace Ken Dorsey last November. And the stats indicate a noticeable deemphasis of Diggs in Brady's play calling.
In the Bills' first 10 games under Dorsey, Diggs averaged 10.2 targets, 7.3 receptions and 86.8 receiving yards. In their last seven games under Brady, Diggs averaged 8.3 targets, 3.6 receptions and 45 receiving yards.
All five of Diggs' 100-yard games last year occurred in the first six weeks. All but one of his eight touchdowns came with Dorsey calling plays.
“The games looked a lot different,” Diggs said. “You can blame me. I don’t mind blaming me. I got big-ass shoulders. But pay attention, pay real close attention. Watch the game. Of course there’s plenty of plays I want back. But there’s a lot of plays that didn’t go my way. I need a lot of things to go right to get the ball."
"What changed? Were there changes going on?" he added. "I just pay attention to what really happened and not what people try to act like happened. Like, for the last 10 games, I forgot how to f---ing play football?”
The April trade marked the second time Diggs has been dealt in his career. In March 2020, the Minnesota Vikings sent him to Buffalo for draft assets that included a first-round pick which would be used to select Justin Jefferson, a three-time Pro Bowler who won 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
In Houston under head coach DeMeco Ryans and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, Diggs has a fresh start. And like in Buffalo, he's been brought in to be a difference maker on an offense led by an ascending quarterback in C.J. Stroud.
Diggs also finds himself in a new city where he has to prove himself all over again.
“I love the noise,” Diggs said. “Push me in the corner. I’m gonna show you my best s---. I’m a person that enjoys being doubted. I enjoy proving people wrong, but also, I enjoy doing it for myself. Everything I say I am, I am. I’m standing true to it. And every time I prove myself right, everybody disappears. I like when they get quiet.”
Diggs will face Josh Allen and his old team in Week 5, when Buffalo visits Houston on Sunday, October 6.