FOXBOROUGH – For the last four months running, Mike Vrabel’s message has been loud and clear to anyone willing to listen.
Since being introduced as the Patriots head coach in January, he’s stressed the importance of the winning culture he’s trying to build with his football team.
That starts with putting the team first and making prudent decisions in that regard.
“Our players will respect, and they will appreciate, and they will be grateful for the opportunity that they have here and the people that work in this building … We’re going to earn the right to be here every day,” Vrabel said moments after being introduced. “We’re going to remove entitlement from our football team. We’re going to get everything that we’ve earned from the head coach to the position coaches, all the way down to the players. We’re going to earn the right to be here every single day.”
Question of the week: Did Stefon Diggs actually get the memo?
Most reports from the receiver’s last stop in Houston had Texans players and coaches, as well as executives, waxing poetic about how Diggs had matured, and was an excellent example for the Texans younger players prior to suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Perhaps he still is that guy. But one has to question his judgment given a viral video that popped up this week of him partying on a yacht in Miami over the weekend.
The video shows Diggs handing an unidentified pink substance to a group of women.
Maybe that’s not the biggest deal. Players have parties when they’re not officially on the clock. And maybe the suspicious substance is much ado about nothing.
It’s just not a good look for a 31-year-old player who was signed to a lucrative contract (three years, $69 million) and is attempting to come back from an ACL injury suffered last season.
“Well, it’s something that we’re aware of,” Vrabel said when asked specifically about the Diggs video prior to Wednesday’s OTA session. “Obviously, we want to make great decisions on and off the field. We’re hoping that with our time here on the field today, that when we don’t have a script and we’re on the call periods, that we’re making great decisions.
“The message will be the same for all our players, that we’re trying to make great decisions.”
Reading between the lines, Vrabel was not pleased having to address a topic where one of his players presumably made a bad decision. He wasn’t happy the situation existed for public consumption.
Pressed further, Vrabel indicated he had communicated with Diggs, who wasn’t present for Wednesday’s workout, but wouldn’t elaborate further.
He didn’t have to. Seeing Diggs unfazed on camera and seeming to enjoy being filmed in that setting with all that was going on told Vrabel enough.
Vrabel and the Patriots have put their money – and faith – in Diggs coming in and being a difference-maker and tone-setter for the team, both on and off the field.
They are banking on the 4-time Pro Bowler being the so-called adult in the receiver room, one that has quite a few young players who could use a guiding hand.
Instead, Diggs didn’t think twice about putting himself in the middle of a situation that was bound to create a distraction. It was the type of scene that might also trigger a league investigation, although that’s more of an unknown at this point. An NFL spokesman reached by MassLive Wednesday said the league declined comment on the subject.
Let’s just say Diggs, the second biggest free agent signing next to defensive tackle Milton Williams, hasn’t gotten off on the right foot in New England.
There’s still time for him to change the narrative, but making Vrabel have to answer for his poor decision-making is clearly not what the coach is looking for.
It’s not part of the culture he’s trying to build.
It’s not having players draw attention to themselves and say “look at me” and look how cool I am telling all of these women to call me “Daddy” on the video.
It’s about the team, and doing what’s best for the team.
It’s about being smart, and staying away from trouble. For now, it’s just one strike. It’s up to Diggs not to get a second.
In terms of his rehab from ACL surgery, all of the videos Diggs has put out with him working hard to get back to form have been encouraging.
Seeing the Patriots release a video of him at one of the workouts last week was also a positive.
Receiver Kayshon Boutte, who spoke with the media Wednesday, said the group has made it a point to interact with Diggs whenever he’s in Foxborough.
“He hasn’t been here much, but we talk to him every time he comes,” Boutte said of the veteran, “so it’s been great talks.”
Vrabel, however, seemed more than a little evasive when asked how the receiver was progressing when he’s been in Foxborough.
“The timelines and the prognosis and everything, we’re working hard to get him back and to be ready to go,” Vrabel said. “When he’s here, we’ll coach him and we’ll have him ready to go.”
Given recent events, it’s hard to know when Diggs will be back with the team whether for voluntary workouts or otherwise.
If Diggs eventually crawls out of Vrabel’s dog house and is able to be the type of target Drake Maye so desperately needs, his presence will go a long way toward putting the Patriots offense back on the map.
Unless, of course, he refuses to comply with Vrabel’s vision for the football team. Then all bets are off.
