The Stefon Diggs situation is one where the details matter and they don’t. The wide receiver reportedly arrived in Orchard Park on Tuesday and then left before the start of Bills practice. Coach Sean McDermott told reporters that he was “very concerned.”
Throughout the day, other players being interviewed voiced their support for Diggs. Josh Allen said he had Diggs’s back and that, “What we’re doing here doesn’t work without him.” Von Miller said he was “on Stef’s side.” Diggs then did what we all would do in the same situation, posting pseudo-cryptic Instagram messages like Breaking Bad episode titles, bringing the rest of us into the fun.
Unless Diggs was upset about some impossibility, like taking down the Anchor Bar (and finally sending everyone to the correct Buffalo wing spot, Bar-Bill) or turning the old stadium into a Scrooge McDuck money swimming pool, it feels like Diggs is worth pacifying. If it’s about money (even though NFL Network reported it is unrelated to his contract), give it to him. If it’s some question of travel or convenience, if it’s some common player ask about a team paintball excursion, if it’s some disappointment with his place in the offense (as it was when he left the Vikings) or how widely his input is accepted, fix it. I don’t mean to make whatever the disconnect is between Diggs and the Bills seem trivial, but I do know that coaches have, in the past, labored intensely over the negotiations for hotel bedtimes on the road. Little issues can become big issues in a team setting as large and as complicated as an NFL facility. Big issues can become huge issues. And, without the recognition of a person’s contributions to your current state of being, pacifying that person can seem trivial when it is absolutely essential.
