{"id":78553,"date":"2025-08-16T10:05:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T10:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78553"},"modified":"2025-08-16T10:05:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T10:05:55","slug":"patriots-diggs-who-was-once-considered-a-top-tier-wideout-doesnt-look-like-a-number-1-receiver-anymore-struggling-to-create-separation-and-make-big-plays-down-the-field-his-recent-performances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78553","title":{"rendered":"Patriots&#8217; Diggs, who was once considered a top-tier wideout, doesn&#8217;t look like a number 1 receiver anymore, struggling to create separation and make big plays down the field. His recent performances have been underwhelming, leaving fans and coaches alike wondering if he still has what it takes to be a dominant force in the NFL."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2226797070-e1755297357397.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2226797070-e1755297357397.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2226797070-e1755297357397.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2226797070-e1755297357397.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Patriots' Diggs 'Doesn't Look Like A Number 1 Receiver Anymore'\" width=\"780\" height=\"441\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>Stefon Diggs of the New England Patriots makes a one handed catch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Spoiler alert: it\u2019s hard to play sports in Boston. The New England Patriots\u2019 newest (and only) super star, Stefon Diggs, certainly provides enough stories to keep the media occupied. Whether its on or off the field, Diggs is a headline machine.<\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s iteration comes from the receiver\u2019s sit down with famed reporter Diana Russini. In the interview, he was hesitant to say he would definitely be in playing shape by Week 1. This led to a bit of a press conference blow up from new head coach Mike Vrabel and team insider Phil Perry.<\/p>\n<p>Perry is NBC Sports\u2019 lead Patriots writer. The sparring match resulted in Vrabel calling him out by name and saying he was trying to \u201cbait him into something\u201d.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Perry Says Stefon Is Stressing Out Mike Vrabel<\/h2>\n<p>Perhaps leaving the presser with more to say on the Patriots number one receiver, Perry took to his show <em>Quick Slants\u00a0<\/em>to voice his opinion on Diggs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s interesting, Tom, because there are little signs that he\u2019s just becoming a bit of a pain in the posterior,\u201d Perry said of Diggs, referencing Vrabel\u2019s temperament at the podium. \u201cFor Mike Vrabel to sort of have to be [Diggs\u2019] public relations assistant and tell us what he really meant in his commentary to a member of the national media, I don\u2019t know if that irks Mike Vrabel or if he\u2019s just looking to go back and forth with somebody in the media.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Perry takes it one step further, asking if Diggs is even worth the trouble at this point in his career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt all sort of adds up to, there\u2019s a lot going on with this guy for a guy who doesn\u2019t look like a No. 1 receiver anymore,\u201d Perry said.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>\u2018He\u2019s A No. 2 At This Point In His Career\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>I commend Perry\u2019s criticism of the receiver because it is clearly grounded in a legitimate concern that, at 31-years-old coming off a torn ACL, this NFL legend might not come back looking the same way.<\/p>\n<p>Above all else, the insider was annoyed with the timing. He called Diggs camp \u201cquiet\u201d thus far, saying he has rarely stood out during the full team periods. However, he said this week he felt as though it was changing. Citing Wednesday in particular as the receivers best practice yet.<\/p>\n<p>Then he does the sit down with Russini and changes the narrative around his play. The media, that was focused on how good he looks against his former team, is now talking about the quotes he provided off the field.<\/p>\n<p>This lead Perry to his strongest statement yet, this time on\u00a0<em>Early Edition<\/em>, a live TV program airing on NBC Sports Boston.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow severe a headache is it? Because if we\u2019re talking migraine, if it turns into a migraine, I\u2019m gonna say no. I just don\u2019t think he\u2019s a No. 1 receiver at this point in time,\u201d Perry said in response to the question of whether or not he is worth the \u2018headache\u2019. \u201cLet\u2019s rephrase that: If he\u2019s a headache, in my opinion, not worth it. He\u2019s a No. 2 at this point in his career. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to be a thousand-yard receiver. I think Pop Douglas will be the guy who ends up getting more targets and ends up with more yards than him this year. I also think Kayshon Boutte is sort of coming along here. \u2026 I would hate to see a promising, young receiver have his growth stunted by a guy \u2014 if he is going to be a headache \u2014 who\u2019s a headache.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Evan Cormier is a former Division I football quarterback with a Master&#8217;s degree in Sports Communication and Media Arts from Sacred Heart University. More about Evan Cormier<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New England Patriots insider, Phil Perry, says the team&#8217;s star wide receiver, Stefon Diggs, is no longer a &#8220;wide receiver 1&#8221; in the NFL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":78557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Patriots&#039; Diggs, who was once considered a top-tier wideout, doesn&#039;t look like a number 1 receiver anymore, struggling to create separation and make big plays down the field. His recent performances have been underwhelming, leaving fans and coaches alike wondering if he still has what it takes to be a dominant force in the NFL. - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78553\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Patriots&#039; Diggs, who was once considered a top-tier wideout, doesn&#039;t look like a number 1 receiver anymore, struggling to create separation and make big plays down the field. His recent performances have been underwhelming, leaving fans and coaches alike wondering if he still has what it takes to be a dominant force in the NFL. - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New England Patriots insider, Phil Perry, says the team&#039;s star wide receiver, Stefon Diggs, is no longer a &quot;wide receiver 1&quot; in the NFL.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78553\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-16T10:05:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-16T10:05:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Take-part-in-a-music-competition-held-by-the-Fauget-High-School-music-team.-Lets-register-now.-1-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78553\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78553\",\"name\":\"Patriots' Diggs, who was once considered a top-tier wideout, doesn't look like a number 1 receiver anymore, struggling to create separation and make big plays down the field. 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