After a jury acquitted free-agent receiver Stefon Diggs of felony strangulation and misdemeanor assault, the NFL did not close its Personal Conduct Policy investigation arising from the underlying allegations.
It now has.
Per multiple reports, the NFL has ended the investigation. The league found that the evidence to support a finding of a violation was not sufficient.
It’s unclear whether the alleged victim, Mila Adams, was interviewed by the NFL. The league has no subpoena power, and it has no way to force non-employees of the league or its teams to cooperate.
Adams’s testimony at the Diggs criminal trial was ultimately not persuasive. The cross-examination demonstrated many flaws in the story. Ultimately, the case arguably should not have been pursued.
The NFL uses a much lower bar than the rigorous requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that applies in criminal court. Even under that reduced standard, there was not enough evidence for the league to find that Diggs had done anything wrong.
Diggs remains a free agent. He generated more than 1,000 receiving yards during the 2025 season with the Patriots, one year after suffering a torn ACL.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel’s relationship with wide receiver A.J. Brown was strong when the two were together in Tennessee, and Vrabel was eager to bring Brown to New England when the opportunity arose. But Brown says Vrabel isn’t the only one he’s glad to be working with for a second time.
Brown noted that Vrabel has hired a number of assistant coaches in New England who worked for him in Tennessee, and that the Patriots have a few other players who were on the Titans when Brown played there. Those people make Brown feel like he’s already at home.
“Do I feel at home? Yeah, I’m surrounded by a lot of Tennessee coaches and a couple Tennessee players, so walking in the building feels good,” Brown said.
To Brown, the most important familiar face may be Patriots wide receivers coach Todd Downing, who was the Titans’ offensive coordinator during Brown’s final year in Tennessee. Vrabel also brought with him several members of the support staff and athletic training staff who worked for him with the Titans.
“Being around coach Vrabel and other people I know, it feels great,” Brown said.
Brown’s relationships in Philadelphia reportedly got rocky at times, but in New England, he thinks he’s found the right home.
Jordon Hudson keeps trying to extend her 15 minutes of fame.
Upon seeing Thursday’s report from The Assembly that Hudson has requested a broad range of internal North Carolina documents regarding last year’s report from Pablo Torre that she had been “banned” from the UNC football facility, my first reaction was to not give the story the oxygen she wants it to have.
Ignoring it simply because she wants it to be noticed isn’t the right answer. The development, despite being apparently gratuitous, has significance.
On one hand, Hudson is possibly trying to gather evidence that could be used in her promised (but not yet filed) lawsuit against Torre. (She should be paying very close attention to the applicable statutes of limitations, if she’s serious about suing.) On the other hand, she could be fishing for any evidence that could reveal whether and to what extent North Carolina officials were discussing her, internally or externally.
Whatever the explanation, it’s a very bad look for North Carolina coach Bill Belichick. He knows what she’s doing and supports it or he knows what she’s doing and has asked her not to do it or he’s clueless about what she’s doing. Whatever he knows, or doesn’t know, the notion that the girlfriend of the major college head football coach has become a chronic thorn in the side of the institution becomes a potentially major problem for the coach.
That’s the practical impact of her public-records side hustle. It will absolutely impact the manner in which UNC views Belichick. Which will make the bar a little higher for him to earn a third season at UNC.
Already, there’s a sense that Belichick is on the hot seat entering the 2026 season. If firing him means not having to deal with Hudson, firing him becomes a more attractive option. Which means that, if it’s ultimately a close question, Hudson’s antics could turn a decision to keep him for a third year into an announcement that he has been terminated.
Does Hudson not realize how this will impact UNC’s attitude toward her boyfriend? Or does she know it and not care?
This wrinkle serves only to make a strange situation borderline bizarre. Belichick, the ultimate no-distractions/"do your job” head coach, has created a massive distraction through his personal life, one that continues to create developments that take the focus away from what the Tar Heels are trying to do.
Broaden the lens. When has the spouse or significant other of a college or pro head coach created so many issues? (Or any issues?) Hudson has consistently interjected herself into Belichick’s job, and the general reaction has been consistently negative.
Still, she seems to revel in it. Beyond craving fame, she embraces notoriety. At the potential expense of her boyfriend, whose eight-figure job would seem to take precedence over her effort to find ways to get people to write or talk about her in advance of whatever reality-show endgame she may have in mind.
The saddest part of the saga is that she’ll find a small minority on social media who will loudly cheer her on. Even as a vast majority of largely silent observers will constantly be asking themselves questions like, “What the hell has Bill Belichick gotten himself into?”
A.J. Brown has caught passes from Ryan Tannehill, Marcus Mariota, Jalen Hurts, Gardner Minshew and Kenny Pickett. Now, after a trade to the Patriots, the wide receiver has Drake Maye as his quarterback.
In nine days, Maye has made a favorable impression with Brown.
“The talent speaks for itself. He can make any throw,” Brown said, via Khari Thompson of Boston.com. “But, I think what’s more impressive to me is that he knows what he’s doing. To be that young and to understand the defenses and to understand every little check, the hots, the blitzes all those things, so young, so fast, it’s very impressive. I really admire that. He knows what he is talking about. He demands everybody else to know as well. He’s a true leader of men. It’s crazy to see at a young age.”
Maye has made the Pro Bowl each of his first two seasons and led the Patriots to the Super Bowl in the 2025 season, and Brown can understand why.
“It’s hard not to get excited,” Brown said. “What a player he is, and just right off the bat, what a great teammate so far. He was eager to learn. He’s great with the guys in the locker room, and we just look forward to playing with a guy of that caliber.
“I know he’s been a great player in this league. He’s gone everywhere. He’s been a guy that you see on SportsCenter the next day, making plays and scoring. The best thing about him, he’s been a winner. He knows what it’s like to win, and he’s someone in that room that we were looking for. I think that’s the best thing.”
In his first year under head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, quarterback Drake Maye finished second in MVP voting while leading New England to Super Bowl LX.
As one would expect, Maye told reporters this week that he’s feeling a lot more comfortable with the scheme now as compared to 2025.
“I think it’s just naturally night and day from last year this time,” Maye said in his Wednesday press conference. “I was trying to get things right, trying to get guys knowing where I was making calls and getting guys lined up. Now we’re just taking the next steps.
“That’s the best thing about this time. You get to work on those things and also work on executing. That’s the best thing Coach McDaniels does, pushing me hard. He’s challenging me, and just trying to get comfortable here in OTAs, and getting comfortable with just doing things, being out here and just making throws. There’s a reason and there’s a why to it. That’s the best thing about Coach McDaniels. He’s so good about explaining that why and helping me get to know that why so I can play faster.”
As for where he’s improved the most, Maye noted that’s a little difficult to gauge in part because that’s what he’s trying to do right now, during the end of the offseason program.
“I’m just focused day-to-day and really not trying to pinpoint an area,” Maye said. “I’m trying to get better in all areas. I think it’s hard to pinpoint that. I think one thing is just making the right decision in the first few seconds I have the ball in my hand. Making the right decision, knowing sometimes incompletions are the best plays, not trying to hold the ball too long and get out of the habit of really trying to extend plays just because I feel like I haven’t extended a play in a while.”
Maye finished the 2025 season having completed 72 percent of his passes for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He led the league with a 113.5 passer rating.
