The Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills face off in Week 5. It’s a special game for Stefon Diggs. The receiver can redeem himself against his former team.

Josh Allen probably knew exactly what his words would do.

“It’s a funny and wonderful thing when you have a bunch of guys who don’t care about the stats,” the quarterback said about the balanced Buffalo Bills passing attack. Whether intentional or not, it was always an ambiguous statement.

Even though he explicitly emphasized that he did not want to criticize former teammate Stefon Diggs, it is pinpricks like this that indicate a deeper conflict.

In the end, the split between the Bills and Diggs resembled a war.

By the end of last season, the star receiver’s performance had steadily declined. He was targeted less often, in part because the Bills fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and hired Joe Brady in his place. Under the new coach, Diggs’s playing time dropped from about 90 percent to 60 percent.

Diggs saw his role in jeopardy and ultimately went on strike by skipping training camps rather more than less to a move to the Houston Texans. This was followed by repeated ambiguous statements from both sides, like Allen’s.

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Allen and Diggs still maintain a friendship, according to their own statements. Nevertheless, Diggs’ reputation suffered under the circumstances of his separation. Also because he was often portrayed as an unhappy diva on social media.

Houston’s world turned upside down

Meanwhile, things are looking much better for the Texans. Diggs is laughing again and said at “KPRC”: “I’m having a lot of fun.” His new quarterback C.J. Stroud has the same impression.

“He’s great,” Stroud said about Diggs on ‘NFL.com.’ He continues: ”He was just great for this team and his teammates. So I’m very happy for him and glad that he’s finally enjoying the game and doing what he loves to do. Because he loves playing football.”

The young quarterback also perceives the damage to his reputation: “I think he’s gotten a bad rap from the media and people.” Diggs himself also sees it the same way: “It’s easy to get a bad rap,” said the player on the sidelines of a training session.

He is all the more pleased that it worked out with the Texans right away. “When you join a new team, you never know what to expect and what kind of people you’ll be dealing with. Obviously, I had a good relationship with C.J. before I joined the team,” Diggs said.

The Texans are off to a strong start this season. After victories over the Colts and Bears, they were beaten by the strong Vikings. In week 4, the next win followed. This time against the Jaguars.

Diggs and Stroud have been playing well together so far. Diggs has already caught 25 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. It’s a connection that can be built on. “He’s helped me a lot. As you can see, we’re doing better every game,” Stroud commented.

Looking forward to the reunion

And the Bills also performed well without Diggs. They won their first three games against the Cardinals, Dolphins and Jaguars impressively. It was only last week against the Ravens that Allen and Co. suffered a defeat. The Bills are therefore likely to travel to Houston with a lot of anger in their stomachs, where they will face the Texans on Sunday.

It should be a hotly contested game between two strong teams. Diggs himself is very much looking forward to facing the Bills again. “Obviously they’re a good team. They have a lot of guys on defense who can be anywhere. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

He tries to ignore the discussions about himself: “I tune out the noise. A lot of other people are going to feel sad or have a lot to say about X, Y, Z. But it doesn’t bother me. I’m not mad about it. I’m just trying to win,” Diggs said.

Josh Allen, meanwhile, is seeking reconciliation with regard to the game: “I think something like this happens from time to time, and I care about him a lot. I still do. The things he did for me in my career and the things he did in a Bills jersey will not be forgotten anytime soon, especially not by me. That’s how I see it,” he said at a press conference.

Reconciliation or not, the Rosenkrieg is likely to add fuel to the already fiery game. For Diggs, it’s about his reputation and about really showing his critics.

Because he knows exactly what his actions on the pitch will achieve.