Bills WR Stefon Diggs Motivated By Memory
On the one hand, Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs believes no football season has anything to do with any other.
On the other hand, he reminded the public at his press conference on the opening of training camp on Wednesday that he never forgets anything, such as last January's loss in the AFC Championship game at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs, who also beat them in the regular season.
Diggs played through an oblique injury the entire postseason, and the Bills also were without injured running back Zack Moss, who had ascended to the top of the depth chart by the end of the regular season before being felled during their playoff win over Indianapolis two weeks earlier.
So Diggs knows it could have been different and has carried that thought with him to an emotional start when he led the first huddle of the first practice of training camp
"You know, we play the Steelers first and we’re focused on that, but definitely something in the back of my mind that I won’t forget," Diggs said. "But [the Chiefs are] a team that we’ll see often. ... So we’ll play them again. You know, not nothing that I’m holding on to too close, but anybody who knows me, I don’t forget anything,”
Diggs also won't forget what kind of juggernaut the Bills' offense was in 2020, his first season with the team after coming over in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings.
He played the largest role by far in the breakout season of quarterback Josh Allen (69.2 completion percentage, 4,544 yards, 37 TDs, 10 interceptions, 421 rushing yards, eight rushing TDs) by coming through with career highs in catches (127) and yards (1,535). Those totals also led the NFL in 2019 and landed Diggs his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro berths.
As well as Allen and Diggs instantly clicked last season, Diggs pointed out room for improvement.
"I feel like we didn’t hit the deep ball well enough," Diggs said. "We were pretty good intermediate. But as far as like hitting the deep ball consistently, you know, me being where I need to be when I’m supposed to be there and him trusting me. So continue to grow that relationship. We had a lot of success.
But you know, every year is a new year, and I want to take another step for him as far as like being the best."
Diggs envisions improvement in the running game too.
"We got excellent pieces on offense as far as running the ball," Diggs said. "We didn't run the ball extremely well last year. That's something I look forward to this year."
So for Diggs, it's Super Bowl or bust, a position he made clear on Day 1 of this season.
He couldn't be in a better place.
Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
