Diggs NOT at mandatory minicamp, McDermott "very concerned" DAY 2 UPDATE: He's back

[Franco_92]

48 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Right, but that's fan opinion.  Is it true, is it not true?  The fans on this board and the WGR call-ins don't know. There's probably a certain element of truth in that pro football is a performance-based business.

 

 

While I loved what Ty Dunne wrote while he was with TBN, it should be noted that he's  now trying to make a living now with his own subscription website.

 

And one way to solicit subscriptions is to generate controversy and clicks.  Towards that end, he initially featured disgruntled former Bills director of player personnel Jim Monos in a bunch of his early podcasts and writings.  Just bear in mind that generating controversy and clicks is how he has to do business now.

 

I think it's notable that, regarding accountability, former Bill 'Zo Alexander said basically, that for certain, "the players know...the players will handle it."  I think a person can second-guess the apparent decision to not throw some players or coaches under the bus to the whole team, or take more blame himself in a different way.  It's seldom been McDermott's MO to throw someone under the bus publicly.

 

I don't think Heath Farwell left voluntarily.  I think he was "voluntold".  Perhaps Farwell should have spent less time arguing for a squib kick with McDermott and more time getting his people lined up?

 

I'm quite certain McDermott had input into the final defensive play calls.

 

There were a number of other players who the team quietly moved on from, including Levi Wallace.  Wallace, in case one missed it, basically admitted in an interview after joining the Pittsburgh Steelers that he had lined up out of position and didn't use his usual cues of looking to one of the safeties to check where he should align.

 

I think if you look around the league, McDermott has not cycled through an unusual number of assistant coaches. 

 

It's hardly news that people in the organization would voice displeasure towards the HC after a dispiriting loss.

This is well-written, and captures the vibe I always pick up when reminded of the Dunne article (and everything he's written in general since leaving)

 

I'm sure One Bills Drive isn't paradise every day/moment but I'm not convinced anything boiling under the surface is remarkable, and things are still far too good and efficient for me to wring my hands

[Reed83HOF]

6 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Posters didn't "beat Wawrow off the board".

 

Posters raised the legit question why make the tweet he did, if he wasn't going to spill the tea?  It seems like LAMP behavior.

Wawrow took his ball and went home in response.

 

Believe me, it was featherweight in comparison to some of the debates he's been in around here.  When it comes to a battle of wits (and words) he is hardly un-armed.

 

Edit: to be clear, I wish Wawrow were still around, and I wish he had "spilt the tea", but it's his choice both ways.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

1 hour ago, Reed83HOF said:

It's been on this board, it has been on call-ins to WGR that Sean's seat is getting hotter.

 

We wonder why Chad Hall left? I figured I would go back and pull up this gem from Ty Dunne about 13 seconds - it talks about about Heath Farwell our ST coordinator, McDermott Displeasure and Diggs is in it as well. I highlighted and underscored the main points. I really wonder if...

https://www.golongtd.com/p/it-was-a-bad-bad-situation

 

Only, he did not. He held a generic, “We’ll grow from this”-themed address. The position coaches met with their players, then with the personnel department for year-end summaries on each player and… goodbye. Have a nice offseason. That’s it. Nothing was shared openly amongst players and coaches alike. Everything ended very “abruptly,” one team source said.

 

Many were left wanting more.

 

“You preach accountability,” one player said. “But you don’t practice it.”

 

“What I’ve been told by many players on the team,” one veteran said, “and some special teams players, is our special team coordinator Heath Farwell, that’s his job, right? He’s aware of the situation. He has studied that. So, he tells McDermott to kick the squib. And McDermott said to kick the ball out of the field. So then, Farwell is arguing the case for why we should kick the squib. But then also you’ve got special teams on the other side and he has to get them together and give them

their pep talk and play call and what they’re trying to do. He’s on the other side and telling them to do that, and then he runs down and goes back and in the midst of all this confusion, the kicker didn’t get the information that he needed to kick the squib. So that’s what happened. They get out there and didn’t kick the squib.

“It was a bad, bad situation.”

 

“He was telling them how to line up for the squib,” this player said. “And I guess McDermott had the last say and I don’t know if McDermott translated that to Heath because Heath was prepared for the squib in his mind and McDermott was like, ‘Kick it out.’”

One player was a bit more diplomatic, citing a “miscommunication.”

 

“I’m never one to point fingers,” he said. “It’s nobody’s fault, but I think everybody knows what should’ve been called and it wasn’t.”

Farwell is no longer in Buffalo. He resigned and is now the special teams coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Players said he was unhappy in Buffalo and left on his own accord. They repeat that he was trying to do the right thing in that kickoff moment and deserves no scorn.

 

Frazier calls the defense but obviously McDermott wasn’t exactly ordering a popcorn from a vendor in Section 120 through those two timeouts. He’s clearly an active participant and, if he didn’t intervene to make sure his defense was positioned to disrupt KC’s speed, he should have. Probably no coach in the NFL has been thinking about how to stop Mahomes, Hill and Kelce more these last years and… that was the grand reveal? In the AFC Championship one year prior, McDermott coached scared by kicking chip-shot field goals. That side of him reared its ugly head again — the Bills killed two possessions in this shootout by punting on fourth and 4 and fourth and 1. But this time around, he discovered a new way to coach scared.

 

As one source familiar with the inner-workings of the team puts it, nothing of importance at One Bills Drive happens without McDermott’s approval. He’s aware of everything, right down to what reporters are tweeting during a punt period at practice. Thus, this does not compute. How does this same micromanager freeze up when the season is on the line?

With everything on the line…

…with a chance to host a conference championship…

“…you fold,” one defensive player said, despondently. “You fold.”

 

“Emotions were up in the air,” one veteran said. “Everybody was angry and upset and Stefon Diggs was having an argument with a defensive player — just saying that he was upset with the call — and then Jerry (Hughes) stepped in. There was a big uproar and people were about to throw hands. (McDermott) comes in and says if you’re about to blame anyone for what happened, you should blame him. But that was the only time that he took accountability. There was no public accountability after that. In our exit meetings and interviews, he never really highlighted that as well. He never broke down why we didn’t kick the squib. It was like a ‘Thank you for an amazing year. You guys are great. We’ll see what happens next year.’”

 

McDermott has cycled through a lot of assistant coaches over his five years in charge.

When one is asked what it’s like to work with him as a boss, he chooses not to answer.

“If I have anything bad to say, I’d rather say it to his face. Read into that as you may.”

 

Added one player: “I didn’t notice it (during the season) because everybody was flying the Buffalo flag and teamwork and family and stuff like that but, once the season was over, a lot of people were being more vocal within the organization of their displeasure toward Sean McDermott. That was so surprising for me

 

great info thx. This all seems plausible.
 

also I don’t expect people to love working for great head coaches. that’s ok. 
 

being the boss kinda sucks sometimes when you’re driving for results 

[Augie]

3 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I believe you have an idea of the next billion views video.

Is it OK if I put you down for 20%? 

[Reed83HOF]

3 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

great info thx. This all seems plausible.
 

also I don’t expect people to love working for great head coaches. that’s ok. 
 

being the boss kinda sucks sometimes when you’re driving for results 

Not trying to flood this thread with BS, but also not trying to write a paper citing sources for a journal publication. I think there are just some things we may have long since forgotten and moved on from that still may be hitting Diggs and this team that has been passed on...

[Royale with Cheese]

I think we can all agree that if the Bills win the Super Bowl this year, Quentin Tarantino would be the best director for the film.

 

Josh Allen played by Chris Pratt?

 

Diggs…Michael B Jordan?

McDermott…Danny Bonaduce.  You know how Tarantino likes to bring back random old stars like Don Johnson.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

3 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I think we can all agree that if the Bills win the Super Bowl this year, Quentin Tarantino would be the best director for the film.

 

Josh Allen played by Chris Pratt?

 

Diggs…Michael B Jordan?

McDermott…Danny Bonaduce.  You know how Tarantino likes to bring back random old stars like Don Johnson.

Sean requested Jason Statham

[Royale with Cheese]

8 minutes ago, Augie said:

Is it OK if I put you down for 20%? 

In what type of currency?  I’m not trying to brag but my bank allows me to withdrawal currency from any country in the world.  

[SectionC3]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

 

I remember that Dunne article.  I think that 13 seconds was a combination of Farwell not getting the change in KO strategy to Bass and Frazier blowing the play-calls.  He got rid of Farwell and now has taken over defensive play-calling.  We'll see where that gets us this year.

I never thought of this before but, in hindsight, maybe we would have been better off burning one of the timeouts we wasted during 13 seconds to square up on the kickoff plan.  
 

I’m starting to wonder, too, if 13 seconds is going to be a pall that disrupts this year, too.  

[SectionC3]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

 

I never saw anything credible regarding that rumor and he only took Tierney, who was the QB coach here (and there) and Bobby Johnson, who everyone wanted gone.  And there was nothing weird about moving on from Frazier as most everyone wanted him gone/wanted McD to call plays.  Farwell screwed-up the KO, so he was basically fired.  As for Hall, I have no idea what happened there, but I read his wife didn't want to live in Buffalo anymore.  Sounds as plausible as anything else.

 

I wish hall would sell his house.  The backyard is an eyesore.  I’m fine if they don’t want to live here; just sell the place to someone who will weed whack. 

[Dr.Sack]

6 weeks of no football. Looking forward to camp. 

[Warriorspikes51]

24 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

John is actually back posting on here now under “Delete This Account” rather amusing

[Doc]

12 minutes ago, SectionC3 said:

I never thought of this before but, in hindsight, maybe we would have been better off burning one of the timeouts we wasted during 13 seconds to square up on the kickoff plan.  
 

I’m starting to wonder, too, if 13 seconds is going to be a pall that disrupts this year, too.  

 

Well McD has gotten rid of 2 of the major players in that debacle.  It's his show now mostly.

 

And injuries will tell the tale, like last year.

[Augie]

16 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

In what type of currency?  I’m not trying to brag but my bank allows me to withdrawal currency from any country in the world.  

 

What currency is most convenient to your yacht? 

[Beck Water]

35 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

 

I know what he said.

My point is Wawrow moved on because he wanted to.  That thread was nothing particularly abusive of him or out of the way, and I’d know, for reals.

 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Beck Water

[Mango]

3 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

True, on the 17 game thing.  Kelce and Lamb both played 17 games, so I guess on a "targets per game" thing he'd be #4.  Actually all the guys ahead of Diggs in targets played 17 games last season.

 

Which brings up an interesting point.  Both Jefferson and Adams play >90% of the snaps: 92% for Jefferson, 95% for Adams. 

Tyreek Hill, 3rd in targets, plays 76% of the snaps.  Diggs similar, 77%.  Lamb plays 10% more snaps, 87%.

The FO is thinking of the future. Stef counts nearly $30M against the cap the next few seasons you can’t have a drop off with that type of allocation.

 

It’s mostly tongue in cheek, but there’s some truth to that.  

[Buffalo716]

27 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I think we can all agree that if the Bills win the Super Bowl this year, Quentin Tarantino would be the best director for the film.

 

Josh Allen played by Chris Pratt?

 

Diggs…Michael B Jordan?

McDermott…Danny Bonaduce.  You know how Tarantino likes to bring back random old stars like Don Johnson.

I want McDermott played by Danny Devito and Diggs played by miles brown 

[StHustle]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

 

I never saw anything credible regarding that rumor and he only took Tierney, who was the QB coach here (and there) and Bobby Johnson, who everyone wanted gone.  And there was nothing weird about moving on from Frazier as most everyone wanted him gone/wanted McD to call plays.  Farwell screwed-up the KO, so he was basically fired.  As for Hall, I have no idea what happened there, but I read his wife didn't want to live in Buffalo anymore.  Sounds as plausible as anything else.

 

 

This past wild Buffalo winter was the last straw. Off to Florida they go. Makes a ton of sense.

[Mango]

2 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

The "you'd be surprised" comment was in response to this from Cover1's Aaron Quinn, in case anyone needs context.
 

 

Good question:

My guess would be McDermott, Beane, the WR coach, and Diggs were in a meeting where things got heated.

McDermott may have said "We need to take a break.  Let's step away, and we'll get back to this later"

McDermott is thinking "step away from the meeting, see you at practice"

Diggs is thinking "step away from the facility, go be in my own space doing my own thing"

 

McDermott is told right before his presser that Diggs left the building and told someone he wasn't practicing today on the way out.

McDermott is "very concerned" because that's not what he expected to happen; maybe Stef is more riled up or there are bigger problems than he thought and now he's got a PR problem with the 89 guys who are there.  Bakari alerts on it and decides he needs to step in and earn his pay and get things settled down, so the comment works.

 

Diggs talks some more, It all gets worked out (for now) and McDermott takes the fall for what happened.  He's speaking his truth - he did say let's take a break and step away.  He's just not speaking the whole truth that Diggs may have put a different spin on it than he intended, or that he may have excused Diggs from practice retroactively.

But he also didn’t participate in any 11 on 11.  Because of new wrinkles in the offense?

 

Didn’t Milano miss OTA’s? Did he sit out. 

 

I’m not sure the sky is falling. But something doesn’t smell right either. 

Diggs only costs us $4M off the roster rather than on the roster for 2024. Curious if part of the PR stuff is for a trade? Or if it’s just to try and smooth this all over.
 

Everybody has been laying it on thick. 

 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

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