FOXBOROUGH - Earlier this week, Stefon Diggs made note of an important day in his NFL career. It was the first anniversary of his ACL surgery, which cost him the final nine games of his season with the Texans.
"A year removed from surgery … I remember all the pain and I remember feeling so broken… I took that shit on the chin and just kept grinding. My faith never wavered God I thank you ❤️🩹 we still going"
Despite being very productive for Houston, the organization made no real effort to bring him back. In fact, Diggs was generating very little interest in free agency until the Patriots came a-calling. The two sides had an initial visit that didn't result in a deal, but shortly thereafter came together, signing him in late May to a three-year contract worth up to $69 million. At the time, Diggs' reps floated the idea that he'd be ready to go for week one. I naturally scoffed at that because, hell, who does that? Turns out Stefon Diggs does.
The 31-year-old (soon to be 32) leads the Patriots with 59 receptions for 659 yards and three touchdowns. He's also gone over the century mark three times (Panthers, Bills, Jets).
Wednesday, I asked him if the speed of his recovery had surprised him at all, noting that when we all saw him in the spring, we were all like - and I quote - 'Damn, he's moving..."
"Decent," he interjected, to laughter.
I said no, much better than that.
"I wasn't necessarily surprised, but I was more so taken aback a couple of times, like, damn, like, the injury, as far as how the progression was happening pretty well for me," Diggs added. "I knew that I attacked it with the mindset of that, and I was never scared. So I didn't go in with the mindset of - "I always said, the worst has already happened." So let me get after as much as I can and prepare the right way.
"So it's been an ongoing process, even throughout the season, as far as training and getting my body where it needed to be. So I wasn't necessarily surprised. I was just more so, like, I was prepared. I worked for it. Here we are. Let's go."
Diggs' on-field joy has been evident for everyone to see, and the energy that he's poured into his teammates has been refreshing for a group that had been dysfunctional in years prior. That's not solely because of Diggs; this team added another professional to that room in Mack Hollins, and has also benefited from some of the young pups (Boutte/Douglas) maturing. But Diggs has found his happy place, at least for now.
"I'm thankful to be where I'm at right now," he said. "(I'm) around a good group of guys. We spend a lot of time together. And I say it's like your little mini-family, because you spend more time with them sometimes than you do with your own family. So I'm thankful to be where I'm at."
The Patriots are certainly thankful to have him. Mike Vrabel has gone out of his way to praise Diggs for his leadership and his competitive spirit. Drake Maye recently told us his trust in Diggs "built up probably when I was in middle school, when he was playing in the league," an obvious ode to the kind of career longevity and production the 11-year pro has had.
"You know, I didn't get a million reps with Drake," Diggs said of their spring and summer together. "I feel like throughout the season, you're growing throughout those games, week in and week out. You start seeing the same thing, and you start adjusting the same way. So I just asked him, what you see here, what you like, and I just run the route."
An injury in recent weeks may have complicated the process, although, as tends to be the case with Diggs, we don't always get the whole story.
"I broke my finger a couple of weeks ago," he casually dropped into conversation. But when asked a follow-up, played coy, adding, "something like that. Don't worry about it. That's the least of my worries..."
And even though he had a couple of drops on Thursday - though PFF only put him down for one (I'll never fully understand what goes on over there) - Diggs has just three over the entire season and has been every bit as reliable and influential as this version of the Patriots has needed so far. Not bad for someone who, if history tells us anything, should only get better the further removed from the injury he gets.