The question of players participating or not participating in voluntary offseason workouts seems to hover over every year’s voluntary offseason workouts.
On Saturday, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer downplayed the fact that receiver Stefon Diggs apparently has not been a full participant in offseason workouts, at a time when the Vikings are installing a new offensive scheme.
“He’s been here,” Zimmer said regarding Diggs at his annual youth football camp, via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “He’s been to most of them.”
This implies that he hasn’t been to all of them. He skipped at least the first two OTA sessions, showing up for the third while spending most of the offseason working out in the Washington, D.C. area. It’s unclear whether Diggs has missed any others beyond the first two.
But Diggs knows how to go about picking up a new offense; he’s done it four times in five NFL seasons. And unlike other high-profile players who are getting up to speed in new cities with new teammates and new coaches and new playbooks and new everything, Diggs is continuing a pro career that has been exclusively confined to Minnesota.
Basically, he’ll be ready to do the things he’s done throughout his time with the Vikings. Success or failure in 2019 will depend much more on whether others on the roster step up.