Morning Sports Update

Stefon Diggs talked about his Patriots debut, and the respect he has for Mike Vrabel

"That is a guy you want to run through a wall for," Diggs said of Vrabel.

Stefon Diggs Patriots
Stefon Diggs after the Patriots defeat against the Raiders in Week 1. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

By Hayden Bird

3 minutes to read

Stefon Diggs on his Patriots debut: After signing with the Patriots in the offseason on a three-year contract, Stefon Diggs made his first start in New England on Sunday.

The Patriots lost 20-13 to the Raiders in the season-opener, with Diggs making six catches on seven targets for 57 yards. As with the rest of the team’s offense, Diggs’s day was underwhelming. Still, taken in the context of his continued rehab from a torn ACL in 2024, the 31-year-old wide receiver is probably ahead of schedule.

After the game, he spoke about the need to move on after learning lessons from Sunday’s defeat.

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“Obviously falling short is not ideal, but it’s a lot to learn from,” Diggs told reporters. “It’s just the first game and I feel like we are a good team. We got to earn the right to win each and every week. We did not win this week; 24-hour rule, flush it, get back to work. We already know what happened out there as far as what we did not do right. So get back in the lab, correct it, and try to get back on track.”

Reflecting on his own contributions, Diggs noted that his comeback from injury remains an ongoing project.

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“Decent, it was my first game back, I was just happy to be back,” he said of his performance. “It [was] a lot of plays out there, we got a lot of players too. So, doing my job is important to me, and I am continuing to do that.”

As for playing under Mike Vrabel, he seemed convinced by the first-year New England head coach.

“That is a guy you want to run through a wall for,” Diggs said of Vrabel. “He obviously was a player and I got a lot of respect for him, we all do. When you come up short it is like when you disappoint your parents or disappoint your dad. A guy that played this game, he puts a lot of time in as far as pushing us and trying to make sure we’re prepared for the game.”

Scores and schedules:

The Patriots lost 20-13 to the Raiders at Gillette Stadium on Sunday in the 2025 season opener. New England will face the Dolphins in Miami in Week 2 on Sunday Sept. 14 at 1 p.m.

Also from Sunday, the Red Sox got a 7-4 win over the Diamondbacks. Boston begins a three-game series against the Athletics on the road tonight at 10:05 p.m.

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More from Boston.com:

Tedy Bruschi on Micah Parsons: The former Patriot questioned if Parsons might be a bad influennce on his new locker room during a segment on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown.”

On this day: In 2013, Will Middlebrooks became the last player to hit a home run off of legendary Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. The solo shot tied the game, though the Red Sox lost 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth on a Brandon Workman wild pitch (which allowed Ichiro Suzuki to score for New York).

Daily highlight: Two tip-drill catches from Sunday: D.K. Metcalf for the Steelers and a Keon Coleman touchdown in the Bills’ eventual comeback win.

Here’s the Steelers’ version:

And here’s the other one, from the Bills:

Hayden Bird

Sports Staff

Hayden Bird is a sports staff writer for Boston.com, where he has worked since 2016. He covers all things sports in New England.

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