Nov 9, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) catches a touchdown pass under pressure from Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (31) during the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Patriots WR Tells All About Game-Saving Play

Originally posted on New England Patriots on SI
By Ethan Hurwitz | Last updated Nov 11, 2025 5:00 PM ET

When the New England Patriots inked All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a major three-year deal in the offseason, it's a safe bet that they didn't expect him to be making high-level plays on special teams. In Week 10, and the team's seventh-straight win hanging in the balance, the free agent came up with one of the biggest plays of the season.

The Patriots were nursing a 28-23 lead against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and had just given up their second touchdown of the afternoon to Tez Johnson. The Buccaneers — who had life with under a minute to play in regulation — lined up for an onside kick and a chance to complete the comeback.

Diggs, however, had a different idea. In the same game where he grabbed a circus-like touchdown to close the first half, he grabbed a high-bouncing onside kick to ice the game away and help New England advance to 8-2.

"I Definitely Want To Be A Guy That's Out There"

When Diggs was asked about it postgame, he mentioned how he wanted to help the team win in any way possible.

“I think I missed some early in my career," said Diggs, alluding to his past with onside kick recoveries. "That might’ve been my first ... game on the line, I definitely want to be a guy that’s out there putting us in position to win. I play receiver, I should catch the ball."

His head coach agreed the next day.

"Well, I mean, you have to determine what they're going to do, try to figure out what they're going to do," Mike Vrabel said. "The different types of kicks and the locations – you don't have so many people to work with at the line of scrimmage where you can allocate bodies. So, that was a huge recovery. Great play by a player that we trust, and we have to try to go and protect him. That's something that we always talk about. So, try to get as many bodies as we can in front of him. It's hard to get them all blocked, especially with a good kick like that. And Diggsy, he went up and was able to secure it."

So is recovering an onside kick just as easy as going up over a defender and catching a touchdown? Diggs didn't go as far as to say easier, but did find correlations between the two during the week of practice.

"Definitely different in the pass (game). But we worked on it all week, too," Diggs said. "(Special teams coordinator Jeremy) Springer does a great job coaching me up during the week, letting me know where to be at, what’s a good spot. He always says, 'Go attack the ball. Just like a receiver. Just go attack the ball.'"

This article first appeared on New England Patriots on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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