BALTIMORE — Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs pulled a Houdini act during Sunday night’s win over the Ravens.
No, it wasn’t when he was evading a tackle. The four-time Pro Bowler escaped from the Patriots’ blue medical tent.
NBC’s Melissa Starks reported during the game that Diggs had to be “physically restrained” in the medical tent, per NBC 10’s Nicole Menner, and that the wide receiver, “eventually escaped out the back.”
Here was Diggs’ explanation:
“I was blacking out, bro,” Diggs said. “They were holding me in the tent. They said I had a concussion, but they never touched my head, I never laid on the ground. They monitored me for a concussion. I said, ‘I never had a concussion.’ I was touching my shoulder, so how y’all say I had a concussion? I was fighting with them to get back out there. It was the first drive. I’m wired to get back out there to make plays for my team. We had a little stall, so I was like, ‘Damn, I’m supposed to be out there.’ I feel like I let the team down if I’m not out there.
“I apologized to them afterwards, but you can’t stop me from being out on the field.”
Diggs came down hard after a 25-yard catch on the Patriots’ opening drive and came up flexing his shoulder. He said he was asked what game it was, what quarter it was and who the Patriots played last week.
“I said, ‘listen, I don’t even remember what I ate yesterday,’” Diggs joked.
He excelled in Sunday night’s win, coming up with big catch after big catch with a nine-reception, 138-yard performance.
It was the third time he’s had over 100 yards in a primetime game this season.
“Prime time, my time,” Diggs said. “The world is watching and I always look at it as another opportunity to show the world who I am, and how I’m coming.”
Diggs was riding high after the 28-24 win.
It was mentioned to him that he was a free agent for a few weeks before he signed.
“Yeah, (the Patriots were) thinking about signing those other guys,” Diggs said. “And I know all those other guys they was thinking about signing.”
He said he doesn’t monitor how the other wide receivers whom the Patriots showed interest are performing.
“I know exactly what they got going on. Prayers to them,” Diggs said. “Hope everything goes well. Maybe in the future.”
He also acknowledged that he understood why the Patriots could have been hesitant to sign him.
“I remember it was kind of like a we had to figure it out process,” Diggs said. “But when they told me I had an opportunity to come here, I jumped at it. Teams don’t really like to sign guys over 30 just coming off of ACL, so it’s just more motivation for me to come out and be myself.”
Diggs suffered a torn ACL last October but was ready for the start of the season. He now has 75 catches for 869 yards with three touchdowns through 15 games.
