The biggest story from the start of Bills minicamp on Tuesday morning concerned wide receiver Stefon Diggs’ whereabouts.
After Bills head coach Sean McDermott said he was “very concerned” that Diggs did not report to the team’s facility, but Diggs’ agent said that his client was there and the Bills later clarified that Diggs reported in the morning before leaving the facility ahead of practice. There was no elaboration from the team or Diggs about why he didn’t practice and Diggs’ absence became the sole topic of quarterback Josh Allen’s press conference later in the day.
Allen said that he spoke to Diggs on Tuesday and stressed that he loves playing with the wideout while shedding a little light on what’s going on.
“Internally, we’re working on some things,” Allen said. “Not football-related. Stef, he’s my guy. I fucking love him. He’s a brother of mine. This does not work, what we’re doing here, without him.”
When pressed about the “not football-related” comment later in the press conference, Allen clarified that the issues had “more to do than just football” and are about “teamwork.” Allen was asked if the current issues were related to issues Diggs had after the team’s playoff loss to the Bengals and said he didn’t know, but that he’s confident “we’re going to work it out.”
“There’s things I could do better to help out with this process and try to get him back here and be the Buffalo Bill that he’s meant to be. . . . There are some things that could have gone better last year and didn’t,” Allen said. “I think, as an organization, maybe not communicating the right way with everything. Just trying to talk and listen at the same time, hear him out and just try to move this forward as quickly and respectfully as possible.”
Allen repeatedly said that he loves Diggs and that there’s not a reason to worry about his absence with the first game still months away, but his 11-minute press conference made it clear that there’s some work to do behind the scenes for everyone in Buffalo to get on the same page as they head into the 2023 season.