‘It’s a giveaway year’: Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs is doing something special with his touchdown balls this season
After Diggs tore his ACL in October 2024, there was some concern about his availability for the 2025 season. The Patriots signed him to a three-year contract in late March, knowing that he could open training camp, and possibly the season, on the physically unable to perform list.
But Diggs recovered incredibly quickly, not only able to practice on the first day of training camp but also active for Week 1. He’s since emerged as a top target for quarterback Drake Maye, recording a team-high 45 receptions for 508 yards through nine games.
When Diggs finally scored a touchdown, which coach Mike Vrabel called “long overdue,” he wanted to make sure he recognized the work of the trainers and their critical role in his highly anticipated return to the field.
“We always talk about me touching the paint, so I said that the first one was going to them,” Diggs said. “I know it meant a lot to them. They’re part of the team just as much as anybody. They get everybody ready to go. It played a huge part in my recovery process, so I just wanted to let them know I appreciate them.”
Then, when Diggs found the end zone last Sunday, he decided to gift that touchdown ball to the team’s director of rehabilitation, Michael Akinbola — the person that Diggs said helped him the most. Diggs specifically expressed gratitude for Akinbola’s receptiveness to player feedback.
“He wasn’t stuck in his own way or thinking that there’s only one way to skin a cat,” Diggs said. “He works on me every day, gets me ready to go for the game, for practice. After the game, sometimes it looks a little gray, like, ‘Damn, I don’t know how I’ll feel this week,’ so he makes sure he takes care of me.”
The thoughtful gesture certainly reflects well on Diggs, whose impact on the Patriots has been overwhelmingly positive. Despite questions surrounding his presence in the locker room, based on how stints with previous teams ended, Diggs has proven himself to be a valuable veteran influence.
Diggs has been on the field for 55.3 percent of the offense’s snaps, which is below his typical average, but he’s kept up an impressive level of production within New England’s spread-the-wealth passing attack. Perhaps most importantly, though, he hasn’t popped up on the injury report since the regular season began.
As the Patriots progress through the season — with the division title, and potentially the top seed in the conference, on the line — Diggs isn’t letting those behind the scenes go unnoticed.
“They’re doing their job, but I think in this building, you kind of build a little bit of a closer relationship with people the more time you spend with them, the more you get to know them,” he said. “So, I just want to let them know I appreciate them. I’m out there grinding and doing everything I can, but I ain’t forget about them.”
Diggs, who has scored 72 touchdowns in 11 NFL seasons, has saved a few mementos from his career. His first touchdown ball as a rookie in Week 3 in 2015. The “Minneapolis Miracle” ball from the NFC divisional round in January 2018. But he isn’t overly sentimental about collecting the footballs from his touchdowns.
Diggs is tied with Marques Colston, Stanley Morgan, and Jordy Nelson for 46th on the NFL’s all-time list for TD receptions.
“I’ve scored a lot of touchdowns in my life, so I ain’t really tripping about any touchdown balls,” he said. “I’ll score plenty more touchdowns.”
Should he find the end zone again this season, Diggs plans to continue sharing the moment with others.
“It’s a giveaway year,” he said.
Nicole Yang can be reached at nicole.yang@globe.com.Follow her @nicolecyang.
