Here’s what you need to know heading into Week 2 of the NFL schedule …
• I think after all the drama of this week, it’s at least worth cleaning up something on Stefon Diggs, and where he stands with the Bills. And to do that, I wanted to confirm the perception I’ve had of the Buffalo star since he came into the league eight years ago.
That perception, I’ll say, is awfully different from what you might’ve read.
Yes, he can be a handful at times. But there’s one thing that I’ve found with the two-time All-Pro that I’d guess nine out of 10 people who’ve worked with him feel. And, honestly, I didn’t have to try very hard to nail down the idea when I started asking people who know Diggs well.
“Man, I love Diggs,” says one of his former coaches. “He’s super competitive and emotional. So that bothers people, I guess.”
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“I f---ing love him,” another of his former coaches says about the star receiver.
So where does Buffalo go from here with the guy? The Bills stay the course. Because as weird as the past week has been for the Bills, and with Diggs, too, they’ve got plenty of hours logged together, and logged to great success. And too many folks out there are doing what they always do, which is overrate what Week 1 (or something on social media) means.
Now, that doesn’t mean Diggs will forever be a Bill. But I think Buffalo will get the best out of him from here on out. And that still means getting one of the NFL’s best at his position.
• Chiefs DT Chris Jones really hit the ground running this week, and Kansas City’s staff was impressed enough that they don’t, as of right now, have a pitch count planned for him Sunday in Jacksonville. The plan—with the Florida heat sure to test Jones’s conditioning—is to play it by ear, be alert not to overwork him and pick spots to hold him out.
So they’ll give him what he shows he can handle.
All that said, his normal workload would be a lot. He played nearly 79.8% of Kansas City’s defensive snaps last year, topping 90% in four regular-season games, and that’s a very heavy amount for any defensive tackle, let alone one who just missed all of training camp.
• The release of Bengals OT La’el Collins this week created a rarity on the in-season free-agent market—with an experienced, starting-level tackle suddenly being available.
So the big question would be why Cincinnati let him go, and there were a number of factors that went into that. Even before the ACL last year, Collins had a back issue, which was part of his slipping from being a very good starting tackle to one that was in more the “solid” category. Add that to the $7 million he was due for this year, the fact that Jonah Williams has been good flipping from the left side to the right, and the reality that the Bengals weren’t planning on clearing him until mid-to-late October at the earliest, and …
Well, you have your answer.
Still, he could be a good add for someone, so long as they’d be willing to wait more than a month to get him on the field (which is why it might make sense for him to wait until he’s healthy to sign somewhere, with the possibility more teams will have a need then).
• One thing I’ve picked up from a couple of coaches the past few days—how the defensive personnel in Cleveland seems to fit Jim Schwartz’s scheme like a glove. And in particular, how good the team’s trio of corners (Denzel Ward, MJ Emerson Jr., Greg Newsome II) look in it.
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• The Eagles’ pass game has looked a little wonky through two weeks (and did Thursday outside of the long touchdown throw to DeVonta Smith), and it’s at least worth looking at the commonality between the Patriots’ and Vikings’ defenses as a reason. Both are multiple, and game-plan specific, and played patient, disciplined plans to try to challenge Philly’s quick game and half-field reads. In other words, they took the fastball away and challenged the Eagles to throw a curve. We’ll see whether it becomes a trend. The good news is Philly’s been able to gut out two wins with its run game and defense, and now gets 10 days to reset.
• I’d expect the Jets to stick to their plan and to create a united front behind Zach Wilson. And I’d add this—from the minute that Aaron Rodgers became a real possibility in early February, the ideal for coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas was to keep Wilson and develop him behind Rodgers. They just weren’t sure whether Wilson would go for it. But he was in, and the Jets, obviously, have been, too. Which tells you that while Wilson may not be who they thought he’d be, they’ve hardly given up on him.
• Sneaky pivotal game of the weekend: Commanders at Broncos. If Washington wins that game, the complexions of both teams’ seasons take on a bit of a different look.
