Josh Allen thinks the media is to blame for how blown up the Stefon Diggs/Buffalo Bills controversy became.
It's not even August, and the Buffalo Bills season has already been defined by controversy. Mandatory minicamp brought with it plenty of attention and drama because star receiver Stefon Diggs was marked as absent. He eventually showed up, but missing the start of minicamp is not exactly a great look.
Following his public outbursts and an offseason of trade speculation, dots were connected by fans and media alike about what Diggs's absence meant that wasn't being said.
The Bills, for what it's worth, didn't exactly smother the story with positivity to help imaginations from running wild toward the negative side of things, either.
In his absence, Allen made the most of the time, taking the opportunity to generate stronger relationships with other receivers who may find themselves more open at times than Diggs, a star receiver who typically draws the toughest defensive matchup.
Josh Allen sets the record straight on Stefon Diggs
Josh Allen appeared on a podcast recently and finally unleashed a more public proclamation about all the drama.
"The media has blown this so far out of proportion. We are in rookie or minicamp. We're not playing a game for four months. He doesn't show up for one day. He's still there. Coach asked him to go home. They're in talks. They're trying to resolve some things. It wasn't anything major. And (the) media blew it up. They're still talking about it. Let it go. There's no reason to continue talking about it (H/T NFL.com for transcription)."
While Allen says he thinks the media really blew this up, it's interesting that he doesn't exactly say the situation is without controversy. He suggests Diggs and head coach Sean McDermott are still trying to resolve things.
Therein lies the reason this is still an issue. The Bills were eliminated from playoff contention almost five months ago. Diggs' issues with the team are reasonable and even could be considered inspiring since a lot of his concern lies in the fact that Buffalo has not yet met its expectation of a Super Bowl appearance.
But for those issues to be driving wedges between star players and head coaches months after elimination when the team needs to be turning a page to focus on the next season, that's when it turns from noble drive to off-topic distraction.
Bills fans can only hope Allen's comments indicate the issues between Diggs and the organization are close to settled and all the key pieces are committed to the cause for the 2023 season.
