Bills star receiver Stefon Diggs offered his first public comments on Monday in the aftermath of his sideline outburst during the Bills’ 27–10 divisional loss to the Bengals and reported early exit from the stadium after the game.
Diggs shared a series of messages on Twitter acknowledging what transpired on Sunday. The veteran wideout was seen having a heated late-game exchange with quarterback Josh Allen on the sideline in the midst of the Bills’ struggling offensive performance and later named in a report saying he “darted out” of the locker room postgame with his belongings before briefly returning.
“Want me to be okay with losing? Nah,” wrote Diggs in the first tweet. Less than a minute later, the 29-year-old followed the tweet up with another that read: “Want me to be okay with our level of play when it’s not up to the standard? Nah.”
Diggs then added a third and final tweet addressing the criticism he’s received for his actions. “It’s easy to criticize my reaction more than the result,” he wrote.
The Bills’ bitter loss on Sunday came in front of the Buffalo faithful, and marked a disappointing end to a promising 13–3 campaign as the team struggled in all three phases en route to their lowest-scoring game of the season. The Bengals defense wreaked havoc on Allen all game, limiting him to a 25-of-42 day for 265 passing yards with one interception. Diggs saw 10 targets in the contest but hauled in only four receptions for 35 yards.
Following the uncharacteristically bad performance, Allen discussed his interaction with Diggs and chalked the moment up as the product of the wideout’s competitiveness and needing to improve the offense. The incident occurred after a turnover on downs on Buffalo’s second-to-last drive of the game following an Allen incompletion to receiver Gabriel Davis at the Bengals’ 16-yard line.
“He’s a fiery competitor,” Allen said. “He wants the ball. Whatever it was that we couldn’t get him the ball tonight, we’re going to have to learn from.”
Allen’s comments were on the heels of a report from The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia on Diggs exiting Highmark Stadium before the coaches made it to the locker room. Buscaglia noted that practice squad running back Duke Johnson convinced Diggs to return and stay for a few more minutes before he left again. Coach Sean McDermott later told reporters Diggs was present for the coach’s speech in the locker room.
Since acquiring Diggs from the Vikings prior to the 2020 season, Buffalo has posted three straight 11-plus win seasons with a trifecta of AFC East titles but has yet to reach a Super Bowl. With Sunday’s loss, the club has now logged back-to-back divisional round exits after losing to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game in ’20.
