Wide receiver Stefon Diggs has cleared up speculation surrounding himself and the reasons for his absence from the Buffalo Bills’ mandatory mini camp.

In recent months, Stefon Diggs has been in the headlines frequently. Speculation about the star wide receiver’s alleged disagreements with teammates and coaches at the Buffalo Bills made the rounds. And his absence from voluntary and mandatory offseason workouts was also much discussed.

At the start of the franchise’s training camp on Wednesday, the 29-year-old spoke at a press conference for the first time since the end of the 2022 regular season, clearing the air in more than 20 minutes, according to “ESPN”. Diggs cited “family issues” as the reason for his non-participation in last month’s mandatory mini camp, but said they were “water under the bridge”.

From now on, his full focus is on the success of the franchise: “This is my ninth year in the league. I have more football behind me than I have in front of me. My main focus and my only focus is winning, Super Bowls,” the receiver emphasised.

The missed opportunity last season in particular, when Buffalo was soundly beaten by the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional Round, still pains the player. “I mean, everybody says they want a Super Bowl, but we had legitimate chances at this thing,” Diggs continued.

Diggs denies dissatisfaction over role with Bills

Head coach Sean McDermott is pursuing “an open door policy.” He and Diggs had “had conversations” in the offseason and recapped another disappointing postseason, but nothing more.

The player dismissed dissatisfaction with his role in the offense or his targets as fables: “Me wanting to have more of a say in the offense is crazy because I play receiver. I don’t care what play is called. I can’t go out there and say call that.”

Since Diggs came to the Bills via trade in 2020, he has been able to score more than 150 targets in every season, while he was able to boast that in only one season (2018) in his five seasons previously with the Minnesota Vikings. The receiver explicitly highlighted this again in the PK.

For his portrayal in the media over the past few months, Diggs then lashed out in rebuttal: “There’s a lot of hair-raising, obvious things that people have said in regards to my role.”

Doubts about his attitude were also firmly dismissed by three-time Pro Bowler: “As a player, I’ve always shown who I am and what I am, what I do and how hard I work. You can see it. And my teammates speak very highly of me in that regard. Especially considering I’ve been a team captain since I’ve been here. “