FOXBOROUGH - With a quick wave and a "Nice to see you all," Stefon Diggs returned to Patriots' OTAs for the first time since that viral video circulated.
Privately, as we've reported here, the Patriots weren't enthralled by the scene captured on that boat in Miami and the level of attention it brought the team in its first year under new head coach Mike Vrabel. However, they've also been somewhat disappointed by his lack of attendance throughout the offseason, even though there is nothing they can do about that part of the equation.
"It's a voluntary part of the year, we know that. I don't know if we've ever had perfect attendance at these things in general," said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. "As a coach, selfishly, you love it when they're all here because you feel you've got them all in the classroom, the field, and all the rest of it.
"He's here today, and we're excited to have an opportunity today to work with the guys who are out here and available to us. I know he's staying up on the information and material. There are so many opportunities for us to teach all our guys going forward between the rest of the practices here in the spring and then going into the summer and the many days we have before we actually kick the ball off in September. I'm not concerned about Stefon in that regard."
This being his fourth team in 11 years, Diggs is no stranger to different play-callers and systems. In fact, this will be his third new look in three years.
"He's working hard," said wide receiver coach Todd Downing. " And I think there's a little bit of carryover some stuff he had done in Buffalo with (Brian) Daboll, you know, back in the day. So, there's a little bit of same as and a little bit of refresher course. But yeah, he's been working nhard."
Downing, who was part of the staff that went out to dinner with Diggs on his free-agent visit to Foxborough and previously overlapped with him in Minnesota, said he didn't spend much time worrying about the video.
"I'm going to coach really hard the guys that are here practicing, and obviously, that stuff that you mentioned was not here, so I really kept my focus on the guys who are here and trying to help them get better and become the players they want to be, he said. "As far as the conversations with Steph, you know, I'll keep the stuff that we talked about between the two of us, and I'm sure you'll be able to ask him a couple questions here."
Not yet, Todd. Not yet.
Meanwhile, Diggs and his repaired ACL spent a lot of time working off to the side with Ja'Lynn Polk, who is still recovering from shoulder surgery. However, the former All-Pro managed to get in several reps with Drake Maye as the quarterback. There was an occasional limp, but generally, he looked quick and confident. He is far ahead of where Kendrick Bourne was at this point (both tore their ACLs in late October; Bourne in '23, Diggs in '24), but we'll have to wait and see how the injury responds to the physical stress of pads and training camp.
BETTER DAY FOR THE QB
As I mentioned, Diggs did get some work in with Maye, who looked a hell of a lot more comfortable today than he did at any point in our previous two viewings of him. And yes, I've been told that he's had plenty of good days on the days when the media hasn't been allowed. I don't doubt those messages, but I also take it with a grain of salt. This staff knows where their bread is buttered. In many ways, it starts and ends with the kid QB.
"He's doing really well. He's very smart. Works really hard, said McDaniels before practice, adding, "I think he's doing a really good job of digesting the information, processing the corrections when there is a correction to be made, and they go out there with a great attitude, and mindset the next day."
There had been some erratic footwork in previous sessions, and bad feet equals bad balls. But Maye operated much more cleanly today, a good sign. Also, a good sign: McDaniels believes the second-year signal-caller has been good at avoiding error repetition, which is a big no-no for this coordinator.
"Not many," he said when asked about mistakes. "Generally, he does a really good job of listening to it, and then when you go out there, the next time, you know, and you see the same kind of look or the same problem that the defense presents to you that that was presented previously, generally speaking, he's a quick study on that, and that's a good thing for a young player."
After throwing for 2,276 yards and 15 touchdowns as a rookie on a bad football team, the level of confidence in Maye from both a fan and media perspective (generally) is sky-high. Is Maye capable of dealing with those increased expectations?
"I think if I know him very well, which I'm learning more and more about him every single day, he's going to place high expectations on himself. I know that for sure, said McDaniels. "We're certainly going to want to try to get the best result out of our quarterback position every play that we can. And that's all we can control. We can't really control outside expectations.
"We're certainly going to try to do the very best we can with our opportunities. I see a guy who has a great attitude and mindset about coming out here and trying to be the best version of himself that he can be. I know that that's what he can control - it's what we can control as coaches - and hopefully, we meet our expectations, which will eventually meet yours."
