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Alaina Getzenberg, ESPN
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen said he’s “tired of hearing all this nonsense from people” regarding teammate Stefon Diggs‘ emotions after a clip of the receiver throwing a tablet on the sideline went viral.
The televised incident happened with 5:40 remaining in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Diggs sat on the bench and slammed the tablet down before throwing it on the ground as he stood up.
“He’s a competitor; he’s a fiery competitor. I’m tired of hearing all this nonsense from people,” Allen said. “There’s a lot of guys in the league that have that same fire that don’t get talked about. He’s a lot of our juice on the sideline, making sure the offense is staying up and as energized as possible and we feed off of that.”
Allen on Wednesday said Diggs, at that moment when he slammed the tablet, was mad at himself for running a wrong release on a route.
“He’s a captain for a reason,” Allen said. “When you look at the sidelines of guys that are talking and making sure everybody’s ready to go, for better or worse, he’s up in guys’ faces and he’s making sure we have as much juice as we need — and he supplies that to our offense, especially in times we need it. He doesn’t get the burn he deserves there. Frankly, it kind of ticks me off when people want to say stuff about him, but we’ll keep that all internal here.”
The frustration came amidst the Bills’ second-lowest scoring performance of the season (20 points) and the offense coming out of halftime with consecutive drives ending in punts, including the drive just before the clip was shown that started with a 48-yard pass to Diggs but ended three plays later with no more yards gained.
Diggs said after Sunday’s game that a “lack of sense of urgency” was apparent.
“You work hard in practice and the carryover is supposed to be, alright, you go have fun now,” Diggs said after the game. “… We were kind of like just not as, you know, ‘Let’s go get it; let’s get after it,’ you know what I’m saying? We were trying to figure it out. But that lack of sense of urgency, it showed, and then we get in that mode of not necessarily rushing, but more like, ‘OK, we got a score,’ you saw that.”
He has been the subject of attention in the past for sideline reactions during games, including during a loss to the Bengals in the playoffs last season. He has described himself as someone that “plays with a lot of heart” and has emphasized how important winning is to him.
Coaches and teammates, including Allen and coach Sean McDermott, have emphasized that Diggs’ passion is what makes him who he is and so successful.
“I try to be there for my guys, give them some positive energy, a boost,” Diggs, who went out onto the field to encouraged the defense between the third and fourth quarters, said Sunday. “You never know, a couple extra claps, a couple extra yells, anything can happen.”
The Bills’ offense is third in points scored per game (30.4), while Allen continues to lead the league in completion percentage (73.1%). Diggs is sixth in receiving yards (520), is tied for the most receiving TDs (5) and has 100-plus receiving yards in three of four games.
The Bills host the New York Giants on Sunday night.
Source: www.espn.com