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Alaina Getzenberg, ESPN
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Wide receiver Stefon Diggs emphasized on Thursday that he can’t speak for his brother’s recent social media posts about the Bills and that those comments are coming from more of a fan perspective and not someone within the team.
Diggs’ brother, Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs, tweeted on Monday after the Bills’ 24-22 loss to the Denver Broncos that “Man 14 Gotta get up outta there” with a tired face emoji and crying emoji. He then tweeted on Tuesday morning, “Let’s not forget, he didn’t start going off till bro got there,” referring to Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
“I’m not responsible for how other people feel,” Stefon Diggs said Thursday. “Anybody in this room for this manner, a reporter, a player, even my own brother. I love my brother. In the space that my brother’s coming from is my family. So, you want to know how he feels? You got to take it up with him.
“… Putting me in a position or me having a conversation with my brother, but that’s outside, that’s in house family rules. But for me, I can’t combat or answer all the questions as to why, with people in the world saying X, Y, Z.”
Diggs said that his younger brother is not on the Bills, and that however he is feeling, Trevon Diggs would have to speak about it himself. The Cowboys cornerback is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered in practice in September.
“I haven’t had a personal conversation with him,” Stefon Diggs said. “My brother is watching football right now. He’s not playing too much. Obviously, he’s coming from more of a fan perspective, but that is my family. So, I handle my family with the utmost respect, and I always hope that people treat it that way. So, when people speak of my family, have a level of integrity as well, because I feel like if it was another family member or somebody else, obviously people kind of handle things however they want. But tread lightly when you’re talking about my family.”
Throughout the past year, Diggs, 29, has been the subject of talk outside of the building surrounding his commitment to the Bills and his feelings toward the organization. The three-time captain, who is in his fourth season in Buffalo, had a news conference on the first day of training camp where he addressed his feelings from a season that concluded with a 27-10 playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
At that time, Diggs reaffirmed his desire to retire as a Bill and said that “forcing my way out of anywhere is not my goal. I don’t feel like I have to at this point. I feel like I’m in a great space, a great place, I’m loved, and I’m appreciated. At the end of the day, that’s all I want. That’s all anybody would want in any job that you do.”
When asked on Thursday, following questions about his brother’s comments, if he is fully invested in where things stand with the team offensively now and into the future, Diggs expressed his frustration about being asked again about his commitment.
“I really sat down and kind of everybody here around training camp and felt like I nipped it in the bud as to how I felt or what I was feeling,” Diggs said. “But here we are again. Here we are revisiting a topic about how I feel. I play with confidence. I go in with confidence. I prepare each and every week. I’ve always been a professional.
“I’ve never really said anything about being unhappy or any instance of that. So, when you’re drawing conclusions as to stuff I’ve never said, that’s what kind of troubles me because it kind of throws a wrench in it. It kind of creates chaos where I haven’t created. Chaos created around me, whereas I just been in the same space, I’ve been in the same place, and I’ve spoken true words. I’ve said the same thing over and over and over. So, when you draw a conclusion as to how I feel in my foreseeable future here, I’ve never said anything, but I was a Buffalo Bill. I gave it everything I got. I’m a professional and I treat this game as such.”
Thursday’s news conference came amidst a week of change for the Bills, with offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey being fired on Tuesday morning after the team fell to 5-5 and 2-5 in the AFC. Quarterbacks coach Joe Brady was hired as interim offensive coordinator as the Bills prepare to host the New York Jets on Sunday. Diggs has been held under 100 receiving yards in four straight games after recording 100 receiving yards in five of the first six games of the year.
The Bills have lost four of their past six games and are sitting outside the playoff picture with seven games still to play.
“It’s only really been a couple days, so it’s kind of like hard to gauge,” Diggs said of Brady’s energy. “I’m more so looking forward to game day. I’m super excited. And I think it might be what we need.”
