Patriots Star Raises Eyebrows With Murky Injury Update

When the New England Patriots landed wide receiver Stefon Diggs on a three-year contract in free agency, they knew what they were signing up for.

Diggs was recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered midway through the 2024 campaign with the Houston Texans, which was why the $69 million deal only contained $26 million in guaranteed money.

Especially at 31 years old, there is no sure thing that Diggs will ever be able to re-establish himself as a Pro Bowl-caliber weapon, but given that the Patriots had the worst receiving corps in football last season, they were willing to take the risk.

Diggs spoke to reporters at mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, and when asked whether or not he would be ready for Week 1, he provided a rather murky response.

“We’ll see how it goes. Obviously, I’m not making the rules,” Diggs said. “I’m grinding each and every day. Obviously, I can’t do much of the team stuff, but I’m eager to get out there, so whenever they do press the button, I’m going to be ready. I’m grinding through every day.”

That probably isn't what most New England fans wanted to hear. Diggs sustained the injury back in October, so you would think that he would be prepared for the season opener, but the Pats may want to take things slow for the former fifth-round pick, which is entirely understandable.

“I’m confident. I took my rehab pretty serious,” added Diggs. “When I came here, obviously, was in a mindset of trying to get after and get going. But it’s kind of like a dog on a leash. You want to bring them back a little bit, especially me, because I want to go, but it’s the timing of everything. And I’m looking forward to training camp.”

In eight games last season, Diggs caught 47 passes for 496 yards and three touchdowns, so he was actually on pace for his seventh straight 1,000-yard campaign.

Whether or not he can do that again in 2025 remains to be seen.