“I just think that it’s an unselfish [group] and you’re pulling for your brother.”
Stefon Diggs is one of several Patriots wideouts who have stepped up this season. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
FOXBOROUGH — Drake Maye has gone from promising rookie to legitimate NFL MVP candidate in the span of just two seasons with the Patriots.
While the 23-year-old QB’s has emerged as a potent playmaker in 2025, New England’s signal caller isn’t exactly stuffing the stat sheet by honing in on just one elite target.
Despite Stefon Diggs’ credentials as an All-Pro talent, the 32-year-old wideout only leads New England this season with 705 receiving yards across 13 games.
Those 705 yards rank 27th in the NFL so far this season, with Maye doling out most of his damage by spreading the wealth across New England’s depth chart.
In total, the Patriots have eight different players on their roster who have recorded at least 150 receiving yards on the season — with four players reeling in at least three touchdown passes from Maye.
Diggs was candid on Wednesday when asked about every wide receiver’s desire to get the ball as much as possible.
But given that New England’s success on offense this year has been rooted in several players all pulling on the rope when called upon, Diggs praised the Patriots’ wideout room for their willingness to buy in for the good of the team.
“Unselfishness,” Diggs said. “I would never sit up here and act like a robot and act like I don’t want the ball. But I can tell you the guy next to me right here and the guy next to him, everybody wants the ball. Everybody wants to play at a high level. It’s like seven dogs and one bone.
“I just think that it’s an unselfish [group] and you’re pulling for your brother. That’s why you see guys blocking downfield for a receiver and you see guys throwing an extra little block here and there. It’s just because you’re really willing to [watch out] for your brother and you really care about him.”
Even though Diggs factored into New England’s offensive gameplan in the early weeks of the 2025 season, it did take him some time to get rewarded on the stat sheet.
Despite recording back-to-back 100-yard games in Weeks 4 and 5 against Carolina and Buffalo, it took Diggs until Week 8 to finally snag in his first touchdown from Maye.
But Diggs stressed that the buy-in is there from every wideout that — sooner or later — they’re going to get their opportunity to produce in this offense.
“It’s just so many explosive players on the offensive side of the ball that it’s bound to happen for you,” Diggs said. “You’ll be open. Just continue to get open. We have this little saying, ‘What are you gonna do? Are you gonna stop getting open? Are you going to stop catching the ball?’”
Diggs also credited Mike Vrabel for preaching the principles that have helped turn New England’s receiver room into an unselfish and efficient segment of the roster.
“Mainly, he started talking about identity and things like that,” Diggs said of Vrabel. “[He’d say] you kind of figure out what team you are throughout the year, what you’re good at, what you’re going do well, what you’re going to try to be good at … it kind of started from the get-go what we were going to preach as far as effort and finish, and things like that There’s some things that I’ve done throughout my career, but this is the most prominent … really identifying or defining what a leader is.
“Different teams require different things, and when it comes down to effort and finish, he’s non-negotiable. Blocking for your guys down the field is non-negotiable. It kind of builds the hierarchy just as far as a standard, that your best players are giving their all for everybody. And everybody follows suit.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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