Pats Pulpit
Following a Thursday night victory and a few days off, the 9-2 New England Patriots are back to work and heading out to Cincinnati for a matchup with the Bengals. The Bengals offense will not get quarterback Joe Burrow back from injured reserve will be down a suspended Ja’Marr Chase, while Drake Maye and Co. will get a chance to feast again a historically bad Cincinnati defense.
Here on Pats Pulpit, our focus this week both wrapped up the win over the Jets and prep for the Bengals. For anything else not covered previously, let’s clean out the notebook. Welcome to this week’s edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.
Stefon Diggs admittedly does not trust everyone.
But as the wide receiver took his free agency visit to New England back in March, he grew to trust a “conglomerate” that attracted him to eventually sign a three-year, $69 million contract with the Patriots.
That group featured the expected trio of quarterback Drake Maye, head coach Mike Vrabel, and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, but also wide receiver Coach Todd Downing.
“When I said conglomerate of people, [Downing is] definitely one of the main people,” Diggs said. “We had multiple conversations, especially when I first got here on my visit. And I trusted him. I don’t trust many people. I believe him. He gave me face-value words. I appreciate his honesty. Same with Coach Vrabes. I appreciate straight shooters, and you can tell me the truth, no matter what it is. I rock with you, if it’s the truth. But, you try to pull the wool over my eyes, it gets a little dicey.”
Downing has carried that reputation as a straight shooter throughout his coaching career, and it stemmed from a Hall of Famer’s advice who also lined up out wide for the Patriots during his career.
“I will give Randy Moss a little bit of credit,” Downing shared. “I was a young quality control coach with the Minnesota Vikings way back in the day, and I remember Randy Moss saying that if you tell a player a lie, and he knows it, he won’t trust you, and he won’t listen to you. And so I remember taking that to heart and thinking, well, if I don’t know that, I’m just not going to say anything.
“And that developed into, as I grew up as a man and wanted to be a man of character, that I like to be a truth teller, and on top of that, I’m not smart enough to remember lies. So I try to just tell the truth. And I think that players appreciate that, because even if they disagree with you, then you can have an honest conversation about it. But, if you’re worried about somebody’s feelings you’re in the wrong industry.”
After spending just the 2005 season with the Vikings, Downing’s coaching career eventually brought him back to Minnesota as the team’s tight end’s coach in 2018. It was there he overlapped...
