Pats Pulpit
The offseason signing will be full-go heading into his first camp as a Patriot.
Stefon Diggs has been given the green light to fully participate in training camp, and the New England Patriots’ head coach is seeing no limitations from the veteran wide receiver.
Speaking to the media at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday, Mike Vrabel gave an encouraging update about his team’s offseason signing. Diggs, who suffered a torn ACL in his right knee less than nine months ago, has apparently shown promising signs over the last few days.
“I don’t see any limitations right now,” Vrabel said. “Is he going to take every single rep of every single period? No, and I don’t think any player will. But I think we’re off to a good start and encouraged by what we saw here in the last couple of days.”
The Patriots signed Diggs in this year’s free agency, structuring his three-year, $63.5 million contract in a way that allows for some flexibility. Effectively, his deal is a one-year pact with a possible out for the club after each season.
Early on in his tenure as a Patriot, however, Diggs has come as advertised.
While he was held out of competitive 11-on-11 drills during the five offseason practices open to reporters, his participation in itself was a step in the right direction. He furthermore teamed up with quarterback Drake Maye and other members of the New England offense for a pre-training camp throwing session in North Carolina.
In training camp, Diggs will now see his biggest workload since tearing his ACL. For Vrabel, that in itself speaks about the type of player his team acquired.
“I know that everybody heals differently, especially from that type of injury,” Vrabel said. “But I would say that I think it’s just a testament to how hard he worked.”
A former member of the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills, Diggs spent the 2024 season with the Houston Texans. He showed promise in his first season with the team, catching 47 passes for 496 yards and three touchdowns over his first eight games.
When his season ended in October, he was well on his way to a seventh straight 1,000-yard receiving season. The Patriots are hopeful that the 31-year-old will pick up where he left off, and the early signs of his recovery are, as Vrabel said, encouraging.
