Mike Vrabel Bashes Reporter For Stefon Diggs Injury Question

From the second he took over as the New England Patriots head coach, Mike Vrabel has made it clear he’s not tolerating any nonsense this year. While that primarily applies to his team, it also applies to the media.

Early on in training camp, Vrabel drew attention for hitting back at questions from the media that he wasn’t particularly fond of. After the team’s latest joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings, Vrabel once again fired back, this time after being asked about Stefon Diggs’ injury status.

The Patriots signed Diggs to a three-year, $63.5 million contract in free agency this offseason, even though he’s recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in Week 8 last season. Diggs was cleared for the start of training camp, though, and by all accounts, he’s looked great during his time on the field.

Despite that, Diggs turned some heads when discussing his stats for Week 1, offering some murky comments on whether or not he’d play. When Vrabel was asked about what Diggs said, he immediately ripped into the reporter.

“Did you really believe that, or are you just trying to bait me into something?” Vrabel said in response to the question. “I don’t know the context in which he said it, but you’d have to help me. I mean, he’s been out here almost every day. I’m excited at where he’s at, and we’ll see when Week 1 comes.”

Based on this response, it seems like Vrabel is expecting Diggs to be on the field for the Pats in Week 1, given that he’s been on the field pretty much every day for training camp. He wasn’t willing to get into what he did or didn’t say, though, leading to this response.

At the end of the day, Vrabel and the rest of the coaching staff are going to work on getting the entire team ready for the start of the season. If Diggs can play, he’ll be on the field, but if he can’t, the team will be cautious with him.

This isn’t the first time Vrabel has taken aim at the media, and it probably won’t be the last either. In the meantime, the Patriots will continue to get ready for their second preseason contest, which will see them face off against the Vikings on Saturday.