NFL Rumors: Stefon Diggs responds to Bills reporter hot mic
The relationship between Stefon Diggs and the Bills has already been on rocky ground and the latest drama surrounding a Bills reporter and a hot mic isn't helping.
Maddy Glab, the team reporter, made comments abut Diggs without realizing a nearby mic was recording, saying "he'll look in my face and say 'eff you.' That's how he treats everybody." She has since apologized.
Diggs has now responded to the comments with a series of tweets.
"The audio shared was very hurtful. And was insulting to my character and to how I was raised. I've always treated people how I want to be treated. I greet everyone with smiles and respect. From the people in our cafe to the people that keep our building in clean & in order," Diggs wrote.
"The media or fans may confuse my competitiveness that they witness on the field as who I am as a person. But off the field Id never treat anyone how she described & have never said anything remotely close to that to her," he continued.
"Idk why it was said, but this is an example of why people don't want to deal with the media. It's hard to fight the preconceived notions people have about you. Regardless of ever having a personal experience with them," the tweet thread went on.
"We get you all have a job. And I respect it, but please remember I'm a human just like you. And if I ever made you or anyone else feel like you can't approach me. I apologize," Diggs wrapped up. "Time to lock back in… forward focused"
Diggs did nothing wrong here. His response was on point.
But the incident is the latest to undermine the wide receiver's place in Buffalo and Twitter is talking trade.
Diggs could request a trade over this, especially if the Bills don't handle this internally in a way that makes the wide receiver feel heard.
At the same time, if a trade request does come down the pipe, it won't be because of this specifically. The snowball is just picking up mass and speed.
NFL Rumors: Flags will fly for Jawaan Taylor
Fans, media and everyone with eyes noticed those apparent false starts and illegal-looking deep alignments for Jawaan Taylor during Thursday night's NFL opener against the Lions. And so did the NFL.
The NFL's weekly training tape for teams and officials included highlights focused on illegal formation violations, according to Dean Blandino via Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated. Taylor's alignment was featured "a couple" times.
Bladino said refs would warn players before flagging them, so Taylor can probably get away with that deep alignment once or twice more before the first flag flies.
To be considered on the line of scrimmage, a lineman has to have some part of their body, usually their helmet, aligned with the center's waist at least. Any further than that and they're lined up in an illegal formation.
Taylor was regularly lined up fully behind the center, but the referees didn't flag him for it. They also ignored apparent false starts.
Now that the NFL has put an emphasis on alignment, expect to see the refs come down harder on the Chiefs lineman, and others around the league who try to gain similar advantages.
NFL Rumors: The Bears say their problem is execution, not energy
The Bears got a rude awakening in their season opener against the Packers when Jordan Love and company blasted them 38-20.
The game was tight going into halftime at 10-6 but Green Bay came out of the break the much better team and wallopped their rivals. Immediately, poor energy was identified as the culprit as players like Chase Claypool were criticized for weak effort.
The Bears are spinning it as an execution problem, not an energy one.
"I think Chase is motivated," offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said per Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Chicago. "I think he wants to do it. I think he had a couple of plays where he didn't execute it, and that hurt us. He knows that. But Chase wants to do it. I don't think it's a matter of him wanting."
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson echoed the sentiment about execution.
"Energy comes from execution at the end of the day, and when you're getting your ass whooped, there ain't no energy," Johnson said, via Schrock. "If you see people with energy on the sidelines when they getting they ass whooped, something's wrong. We got to execute to be able to drive that energy."
The Bears can say all this but effort is also a factor. Execution can build energy but effort, which is a measure of energy, plays a role in whether or not execution occurs. In Claypool's case, it's hard to argue he "wanted" much of anything in the clips of his poor blocking efforts that circulated.
