- 5 months ago
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What is the status on Stefon Diggs? Is he pushing himself too much? #nfl
Do you believe Diggs will play week 1? Could we see him in preseason?
Do you believe Diggs will play week 1? Could we see him in preseason?
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00:00And the Pats had their second and last joint practice with the Vikings yesterday.
00:04They are set to take on the Vikings in their second preseason game tomorrow, 1 p.m. kickoff, which is interesting.
00:10And we've talked about Steph Diggs and what's going on there.
00:13Ramondre Stevenson, it does seem like it is an injury.
00:15Mike Rabel talked about that a little bit.
00:17And Devin McCourty said that to us yesterday, that he believed that it was an injury.
00:22He didn't look like he got beat up last Friday during the first preseason game,
00:26so we were confused why he was sidelined during practices.
00:28But not a significant injury, Mike Rabel said.
00:31Yeah, and another note, so Devin was great.
00:34If you missed it, go to the Odyssey app.
00:37Devin McCourty joined us yesterday morning, and he told us that Steph Diggs is 100%.
00:42Right.
00:44So if Steph Diggs is 100%, then there isn't a question about week one,
00:50which calls more into question the explanation he had for Diana Rossini.
00:55But when you listen to that Diana Rossini, it seems like he's kidding.
00:59He seems like he's laughing throughout it.
01:01I mean, we can replay it.
01:02Yeah, I just, to me, if it's all in jest and he's clearly playing,
01:07then Rabel says he's clearly playing.
01:09Like, it's not like there's going to be, I'm pretty sure the Raiders are preparing for Diggs to play.
01:14Yeah.
01:14I don't think it's going to be a big game of, you know, whodunit as to who plays.
01:18But yeah, Jackson, if we have it, let's hear that again.
01:21Yeah, I heard that too.
01:22I've been hearing that you're trying to perform more than be smart about what to do here.
01:26I heard that too, man.
01:27We'll see, man.
01:27This is Scoop City.
01:28I get all the Scoops.
01:29Everybody's excited, man.
01:30I'm just, like, taking it day by day.
01:32I feel great.
01:33I mean, I'm pushing the needle always.
01:34I'm always on doing more than less.
01:37And, you know, we'll see about week one.
01:39Like, you know, I don't know how I feel about it.
01:41We'll see.
01:42You know, coaches aren't too excited.
01:43I'm not too excited.
01:44I'm just trying to take it day by day.
01:45Like, he could also, because Steph Diggs has always been the person that says, like, I'm not going to ride the roller coaster.
01:51Is he saying I'm not too excited, the coaches aren't too excited, meaning the roller coaster?
01:56Like, we're not too high.
01:57We're not too low.
01:58I don't know.
01:59I just, listening to that, I wouldn't have, I would have jumped to more conclusions based off Vrabel's non-answer to us on Monday than I would that answer to Diana Rossini.
02:07It just feels like, you know, Stephen Diggs likes being talked about.
02:13Yes.
02:13And that's essentially what he did.
02:15And it just feels like Vrabel doesn't want to talk about it.
02:18And Diggs is throwing it out there.
02:20Ah, I'm not too excited.
02:22Or the coaches aren't excited.
02:23And then it's like, okay, let's just, we're not worrying about this.
02:26I don't want to talk about this.
02:27And to your point of Vrabel not laughing it off the other day, he's annoyed by this already.
02:31Of course.
02:32He's so annoyed by this already.
02:33Just like Belichick would have been annoyed or wouldn't allow this to even come out because it is annoying to have to talk about.
02:39Because we will be talking about Diggs.
02:41He wants everyone to talk about him every single day of the entire season.
02:46So, when he starts playing, it's going to be something else.
02:49And that's why, that's what this guy does.
02:51That's what Devo wide receivers do in this league.
02:54Well, Rich has something to say about Vrabel in the media.
02:56Rich, good morning.
02:58Hey, good morning.
02:59I was actually really excited when Vrabel came on as the head coach.
03:02I'm a little disheartened at the way he treats the media sometimes.
03:06I've lost a little bit of respect for him.
03:08I mean, these B-rairs are there doing their job.
03:10Vrabel's making more in one game than they're making all year long.
03:14And he's got to be middle of them and be very cavalier about handling questions for the media, which is part of his job.
03:20So, I'm not too thrilled about the way he's handling the media right now.
03:24Yeah.
03:24I love Vrabel.
03:27I'm still glad he's the head coach.
03:28I think he's going to be great on Mondays.
03:30And Vrabel is also a guy, not that he loves being talked about, but he's pretty blunt.
03:36Like, he's just, even when he's, like, complimenting you, he doesn't allow it to go without a backhanded, you know, slight at the end.
03:44It's just the way he is.
03:45And he's an incredibly smart guy.
03:48Diggs is also really smart.
03:49And he knows exactly what he's doing.
03:51And there is something.
03:52I don't know what it is.
03:53I don't know whether Vrabel tried to reel him in and he felt like he was being too stifled.
03:57So, then he goes on with Diana Rossini and says that.
04:00But Vrabel was mad that Phil Perry was asking the question the way he did.
04:06He is seeking to stop something that Vrabel began.
04:09Vrabel began this on Monday.
04:12It's the easiest answer.
04:14Yeah, we're all super impressed with the way Diggs has handled himself.
04:19He's been a total pro since the day he arrived, which is what he said the Monday after the boat.
04:24He said he's here.
04:24Everybody's accounted for.
04:26You know, he's working his butt off.
04:27But I also can see Vrabel not wanting to put himself in a situation where he has to walk comments back, like Gerard Mayo.
04:33Gerard Mayo was so high on everybody.
04:35Every single time we asked questions about players, and then he ended up having to walk things back because it didn't play out the way he wanted it to.
04:42So, I do think Mike Vrabel—
04:43But what would he have to walk back on Diggs?
04:45Well, because if Diggs doesn't end up playing week one, if Diggs is, like, you know, a pain in the butt,
04:50and things don't work out this season the way that they're supposed to, or we're expecting them to,
04:56for him to come out, you know, during preseason, like Bill Belichick did with Mac Jones,
05:01saying he's made leaps and bounds better than he was this season.
05:05Yeah, like, that's a—he's tempering himself.
05:08Mike Vrabel, I think, is a good balance between Belichick and between Gerard Mayo.
05:12But what's—so let's just work with that.
05:14Let's say week one—let's say Vrabel says what I wanted him to say, and that he's been great,
05:18and that we can't wait to get him on the field.
05:19He's doing everything he can.
05:20He's been spectacular since he arrived.
05:23In week one, he doesn't play against the Raiders.
05:26Vrabel can easily say, like, we knew this was going to be a tightrope.
05:29He was coming off an injury, and we don't want to jeopardize the rest of the season because we're going to rush him in here.
05:34Yeah, but then we would all say, well, why would they jump to conclusions so early on
05:38and say that he's ready for week one if he's not ready for week one?
05:40Because I do think a lot of people, when Shepter first reported that, took that as tongue-in-cheek.
05:44Like, not tongue-in-cheek, but, like, it was agent-speak.
05:47Like, it was a rose-colored glasses way to see through this.
05:50I'm just saying that where we are right now is the opposite of where they wanted to be
05:54in terms of the conversation around the team between now and September 6th or whatever it is
06:00is going to all be about Diggs.
06:02And he's meeting with Diana Russini, but he's not playing in games, so he doesn't have to meet the local media.
06:07Not exactly a good look.
06:08He's talked to the local media, though, since he's been here.
06:10Like, he's had media scrums since he's been here.
06:13So then why did Phil Perry say that?
06:15Like, during practice, we've heard from Steph Diggs.
06:17No, I know.
06:17It just seemed like an odd thing to say when he was like he didn't want to play because of the local media.
06:21Well, we also know the local media gets upset when players go and talk to national media instead of them
06:27and give them the scoop instead of the guys that are there every day.
06:32Mike Vrabel does not seem like a guy who's going to be walking back anything
06:35or has ever walked anything back in his entire life.
06:38So we're not going to get any of that walking back, that's for sure.
06:42And it's going to – you said it, Curtis, is that they're both smart guys and they both know how to play this.
06:47And they're both – again, Diggs is a veteran, all-star, pro bowl wide receiver
06:55who's made all the money in the world, has all the boat trips in the world, the rest of his life.
06:59He is going to be antagonistic.
07:01That's what he does.
07:03That's why he has got – that's why Josh Allen got rid of him.
07:06That's why Texas didn't re-sign him.
07:08You've already said this.
07:09This is going to be a thing.
07:10And Vrabel is not going to back down.
07:13And Vrabel's going to give it back to him.
07:15And it's going to be a story.
07:18It's going to be fun.
07:19And as you said, if he's good on the field, then it's going to be great.
07:22If he isn't, then we're going to get some of this tension that seems to be there already.
07:26Yeah, and I think quickly, Courtney, at the end, the reason this marriage, I think, will work for a year
07:32is that they need each other.
07:35Steph Diggs – I know it said a three-year deal.
07:36It's a one-year deal.
07:37And so if Diggs performs and Drake May is elevated because of the presence of Diggs
07:43and at the conclusion of the season, either here or I hope elsewhere, Diggs will get one last big deal.
07:50And Vrabel knows that he needs the talent of Diggs looking around the other receivers on this roster.
07:55I mean, it's awful with the exception of Diggs.
07:57So they got together for this in a mutually beneficial short-term relationship
08:02that I think could yield benefits with each not using the other down the line.
08:06And I think that's why Vrabel's – again, I'm like 38,000 feet on this one.
08:12I'm so far – but just watching and why he's such a good hire, Mike Vrabel,
08:16is because he has the old school in him that creates culture and creates a locker room
08:23and brings back the quote-unquote patriot way, which is funny to look back on now.
08:28We just had a caller complain about how the media was being treated, which was the complete patriot way six years ago
08:37when they were winning trophies.
08:39But he's good at understanding new school that he does need a Diggs,
08:44where maybe two coaches ago he just wouldn't deal with it.
08:48He just – no chance.
08:49I'm not dealing with it.
08:50Vrabel knows he needs to deal with it.
08:52We'll deal with it in his way, and it will be condescending at times,
08:55and he'll be smarter than everybody else in how he deals with it, but he does know that he needs them.
08:59Well, I want to hear from Randy in Providence, who has something to say about Diggs' comments.
09:03Good morning, Randy.
09:05Hi.
09:05Good morning, guys.
09:07First, let me just lead by saying it's been a great week watching you guys on here.
09:11I assume the other guys are back next week, but you guys have had a great week on the radio in the morning.
09:19Yeah, no, it's really enjoyable listening to you guys.
09:22I did want to say on the Diggs' comments, you guys keep playing back the too excited thing, right?
09:27Like, he's not too excited.
09:29The coaches aren't too excited.
09:30But I feel like there's no context.
09:33Diana Russini asked him directly beforehand.
09:35She said something to the effect of, I heard you're overworking yourself.
09:40I heard you're working too hard to get back, and you're not being conservative enough.
09:45You're not holding it back enough.
09:47And his answer to that was, no, I'm not getting too excited.
09:51The coaches aren't getting too excited.
09:53We're just kind of playing it by ear, essentially.
09:56And so I just feel like the context is important in that.
10:00Yeah, no, context is always important.
10:02Randy makes a good point.
10:03Like, the question was about him pushing himself too hard.
10:07And so he could be commenting on that as well.
10:09It's more, I think, people jumping to what's going on here because of the way Mike Rabel responded to Phil Perry.
10:15Yeah, I think in both cases it could have been less of a story.
10:20But I don't think he's – we're not going to see Diggs at all tomorrow.
10:25And definitely not going to see him in the last preseason game.
10:28And so it'll be, you know, between now and week one.
10:32Will he or won't he against the – I wonder who's going to light the lighthouse week one against the Raiders.
10:38We should get Wiggy there.
10:39I agree.
10:40Wiggy should be brought – I mean, I don't understand.
10:43Wiggy doesn't get the credit he deserves.
10:44He does not.
10:44Wiggy should be brought – I mean, I don't understand.
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