Josh McDaniels Clears Air On Stefon Diggs’ Season-Low Snap Count
Diggs played half of New England's offensive snaps against Buffalo
Stefon Diggs put the league on notice in October when he recorded 10 catches for 146 yards against his former team in the New England Patriots’ 23-20 road win over the Buffalo Bills.
Last Sunday was a different story.
In a game that saw 66 total points scored, the Patriots’ highest-paid pass catcher only made three receptions. He totaled just 26 yards as New England’s passing attack looked disjointed.
Diggs played just 26 snaps in the loss, a new season low. It is the only time he has recorded fewer than 30 snaps played since Week 1.
His low usage caused rumors to swirl that the 32-year-old receiver coming off a torn ACL could be on a “pitch count” late in the season.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was asked about Diggs’ usage.
“Nope (no reason for fewer snaps). There’s a lot of guys that got fewer snaps on Sunday because we didn’t earn enough snaps in the game,” McDaniels said, via WEEI’s Tom Carroll. “And so we look at it, Stef’s done a great job. And so whether it’s Stef or TreVeyon (Henderson), who played in the 20s on Sunday. I’d love for TreVeyon to play in the 50s. But when you only have 50 plays, it’s hard for us to establish that volume for any one player.”
Diggs’ 26 snaps made up exactly 50% of the Patriots’ offensive plays.
Still, as far as snap share is concerned, Diggs was extremely outpaced by his counterparts Mack Hollins and Kayshon Boutte, who played 41 and 39 snaps, respectively.
