Bills’ Josh Allen insists stat comment wasn’t an attack on Stefon Diggs

Josh Allen has been successful in the Buffalo Bills’ first three games of the post-Stefon Diggs era, but he doesn’t want to disparage his former teammate and make it clear that he has respect for the star receiver.

When he met with reporters on Wednesday, Allen explained his comments after Buffalo’s 47-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars about the success of the team’s offense, which some viewed as shots at Diggs.

“I know there are a lot of people out there talking. Again, I’m not trying to put anyone down,” Allen said. “I loved everyone I played with and you don’t have to tear other people down to build each other up. And we’re just building each other up and that’s all we’re trying to do. “We’re trying to stick together as a team and everyone in this building has that feeling.

After throwing a touchdown pass to four different receivers in Monday’s win, Allen said there was an “everybody eats mentality” in the Bills’ offense. He later made a comment about the Buffalo players being selfless and not caring about their individual stats.

“It’s a funny and wonderful thing when you have a lot of people who don’t care about the stats, who don’t care about the touchdowns,” Allen told reporters Monday. “And again, I think throughout practice we just had the mindset of, ‘Hey, let’s just do things right and find ways to win football games.’ That’s what we’re doing right now.”

Rumor has it that the Bills decided to trade Diggs to the Houston Texans in April for a number of reasons, a move that seemed somewhat surprising. But Diggs had tried the Bills’ patience because of his antics, The Athletic previously reported. For example, Diggs made an alleged attack on Allen on social media the day before the IPO.

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Allen emphasized that he has no reservations about Diggs and said he only wanted to praise the players currently on the team.

“I love 14, I still do,” Allen said, referring to Diggs by the jersey number he wore in Buffalo. “But everyone wants to keep doing this thing. We’re so focused on what’s going on in our building and that’s the only thing we care about right now.”

Allen and Diggs quickly emerged as one of the league’s best quarterback-wide receiver duos when they teamed up in 2020. Diggs was a Pro Bowler in all four seasons he played with Allen, consistently ranking at the top of the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

However, with the end of the 2023 season, Diggs’ stats declined somewhat. While he had another 1,000-yard year, he only had 388 receiving yards and one touchdown in the final 10 games of the season, including the playoffs.

Still, there was some concern that trading Diggs and Buffalo’s decision not to replace him with an All-Pro-caliber receiver would cause Allen and the Bills’ passing game to take a downturn. So far that hasn’t been the case. Allen leads the league in passer rating (133.7) and is second in passing touchdowns (seven). He also has two rushing touchdowns that led the Bills to a 3-0 record and made him the early betting favorite for MVP.

Additionally, the Bills’ “everybody eats” offense was one of the best in the league. Buffalo leads the league in scoring through the first three weeks (37.3 points per game), with six different players catching a touchdown pass from Allen.

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