On Sunday, Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs will face the Buffalo Bills, who dealt him to Houston in April. He insists it's just another game.
"Block out the noise. A lot of other people are going to feel away or have a lot to say about X, Y, Z, and I don't mind. I'm not mad at it," Diggs said Wednesday, via ESPN's Alaina Getzenberg. "Just trying to go 1-0. Obviously, they're a good team. They have a lot of guys who can fly around on defense. But they're a really good team. So, I look forward to it."
While Diggs seems to be downplaying the storyline, he may have extra motivation heading into the game against his former team. Claiming he had a complicated relationship with Buffalo feels like an understatement.
"The player is famously mercurial," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler wrote Wednesday. "The team's level of patience with his personality ebbed and flowed. The offense was headed in a different direction. The ratio of the impact of these three causes depends on who's doing the talking."
Diggs seemed to test the team's patience before he was traded. In April, The Athletic's Tim Graham pointed out he skipped 2023 mandatory minicamp and created several other distractions throughout the year.
There were also signs of tension between him and Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen. CBS cameras caught Diggs yelling at Allen during a divisional-round playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in January 2023.
Although he didn't always get along with the star wideout, Allen still has a deep respect for him.
"I've got a lot of love for [Diggs]," Allen told the media Wednesday. "I still do. The things that he did for me in my career and the things he did in a Buffalo Bill uniform won't be forgotten anytime soon, especially from me."
Diggs' new quarterback, C.J. Stroud, praised him in his Wednesday news conference. Stroud said Diggs has been a pleasure to work with and that he thinks the WR got a "bad rap."
Bad rap or not, the Texans (3-1) need Diggs to show why he made four Pro Bowls in four seasons with the Bills on Sunday. As of Wednesday, FanDuel lists Buffalo (3-1) as a 1.5-point favorite in its road game.
He may deliver. Through four games, the 30-year-old has 25 receptions for 233 yards and two TD catches.
