Stefon Diggs Seizing His Opportunity With Vikings
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (WCCO) — Stefon Diggs spent the first three games of his NFL career buried so far down the depth chart he wasn't even activated for the Minnesota Vikings.
When Charles Johnson got hurt, Diggs got an opportunity.
And all he's done in the two games since is catch 13 passes for 216 yards – one of the best two-game debuts in Vikings history.
"It's all about having a positive attitude," Diggs said of the wait he endured before emerging the past two weeks. "The time you do get edgy and the time you do want to slack off is the time, boom, there goes your opportunity. So you don't want to have that. You don't want to have any negativity in your life. Continue to push. Continue to be patient. And when your time comes, then you've got to do everything you can, that's all."
Diggs' emergence has his coaches, teammates and even himself expecting big things. Coach Mike Zimmer said Diggs' route running is "excellent" and he has a knack for getting open.
Regardless of Johnson's health now, Diggs no doubt has earned more playing time.
"He works really hard, he runs good routes, he catches the ball good, he's competitive," Zimmer said. "He really wants to be good, so I think that's why he works so hard at it."
Clearly Diggs and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater have good chemistry. And while they have had minicamp and training camp and walkthroughs and practice with which to build that, we're still talking about a rookie wide receiver just five games into his career.
So as for why they've been able to build that chemistry so quickly, Diggs says more than anything else it comes down to one thing: Trust.
"Just trying to make plays for him," Diggs said. "Quarterbacks like guys who try to do everything they can for them and put it on the line for them. So that's what I try to do. I mean, you want to have that trust with your QB, you want to build that camaraderie throughout your team and just have that relationship with them, so when you're out there he doesn't have anything to worry about. He tells you to run this route, you run it to the best of your ability and be there for him."
