A day after his failure to show up for work sparked plenty of speculation about receiver Stefon Diggs’ future in Minnesota, his presence at practice (and comments to the media) sparked plenty more.
His head coach opted to add no fuel to the fire. Via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Mike Zimmer declined to discuss the Diggs situation, calling it an “internal matter.”
As to whether Diggs will play against the Giants on Sunday, Zimmer said (via Chad Graff of TheAthletic.com), “We’ll see.”
Reporters saw Diggs catching passes at the end of Thursday’s practice not from quarterbacks Kirk Cousins or Sean Mannion. Instead, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com, it was practice-squad quarterback Jake Browning throwing to Diggs.
Trade speculation regarding Diggs has swirled for days, and Diggs did nothing to dispel it on Thursday. The Vikings reportedly have no plans to trade Diggs, but it feels like the situation simply isn’t sustainable -- especially if someone makes the Vikings a viable offer for Diggs.
As explained here last week, the dramatic change in Minnesota’s offense makes Diggs a luxury the Vikings can’t afford. The problem is that depth behind Diggs and fellow starter Adam Thielen is thin.