ESPN analyst thinks there is lingering friction between Bills’ Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs
The Buffalo Bills are seen by oddsmakers as having the third-best chance of winning Super Bowl LVIII, trailing only the Chiefs and Eagles.
However, with fewer than three months until the start of the 2023 season, the waters don’t appear to be calm in upstate New York. And I’m not talking about on Lake Erie.
Wide receiver Stefon Diggs missed the first day of the Bills’ mandatory minicamp earlier this month, and coach Sean McDermott said he was “very concerned” about the star’s absence, per KRQE.com.
Diggs returned for Day 2 of camp and McDermott said he had approved of the receiver’s absence. Day 3 of camp was then canceled.
So what’s going on in Buffalo?
Let’s first look back at how the Bills’ 2022 season ended: a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in an AFC Divisional Game in Buffalo. Cameras caught Diggs yelling at quarterback Josh Allen during that game.
Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III, who is an analyst at ESPN, believes there are lingering hard feelings between Diggs and Allen.
“I’ve talked with people close to the situation and really what it boils down to is in that last game against the Bengals, Diggs was the most targeted receiver in that game, he got 10 targets in that game,” Griffin said on “The Rich Eisen Show.” “But when they were down 17, they had a 10-play drive that ended in a turnover on downs. And Diggs only got one ball thrown his way.
“So you would think that a player of Diggs’ caliber, with the relationship that he has with Josh Allen, in those moments he would look to him more often. And that didn’t happen. I think that was ... why we saw Diggs hold his hands up looking at Josh Allen on the sidelines when they had the little tiff that was shown on TV.
“And Diggs wants to win like every other player wants to win. And I think that if they can rekindle that bromance, Josh Allen’s got to do something to re-light that fire between the two of them. And I think that will be the key for the Bills to be successful this year, especially since they have Super Bowl aspiration.”
Griffin expounded on why the onus is on Allen to get back on the same page with Diggs. Griffin said a happy Diggs will be vital for the Bills if they want to win a Super Bowl.
“I think it’s clear this is a personal thing between Josh and Diggs, and they have to get the partnership back on the field and that’s part of playing quarterback,” Griffin said. “I think Josh Allen’s running into that right now. Everything is fine until it’s not fine in a relationship when it comes to a quarterback and a wide receiver like Diggs. So Josh has to manage that relationship the right way. And I think he’s the only one that can rectify it.”
Here is Griffin talking about the Bills.
