FOXBOROUGH — When Stefon Diggs spoke of the “conglomerate” that drew him to New England, the wide receiver first mentioned three of the usual suspects: Quarterback Drake Maye, coach Mike Vrabel, and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
But then Diggs brought up a lesser-known name too: Wide receivers coach Todd Downing.
The two overlapped in Minnesota when Diggs was a young wideout and Downing was coaching tight ends in 2018, and the assistant made an impression on Diggs.
“When I said conglomerate of people, (Downing is) definitely one of the main people,” Diggs said. “We had multiple conversations, especially when I first got here on my visit. And I trusted him. I don’t trust many people. I believe him. He gave me face-value words. I appreciate his honesty. Same with Coach Vrabes. I appreciate straight shooters, and you can tell me the truth, no matter what it is. I rock with you, if it’s the truth. But, you try to pull the wool over my eyes, it gets a little dicey.”
On Thursday at Gillette Stadium, Downing said that his reputation as a “straight shooter” actually developed because of another legendary Vikings wide receiver. The assistant broke into the league with Minnesota in the early 2000s, and something he heard from Randy Moss resonated with him as a young coach.
“I remember Randy Moss saying that if you tell a player a lie and he knows it, he won’t trust you and he won’t listen to you,” Downing said. “So I remember taking that to heart and thinking if I don’t know, I’m just not going to say anything.
“That developed into, as I grew up as a man and wanted to be a man of character, that I like to be a truth teller — and on top of that I’m not smart enough to remember lies," Downing cracked. “So I try to just tell the truth and I think players appreciate that. Because even if they disagree with you, then you can have an honest conversation about it. But if you’re worried about somebody’s feelings, you’re in the wrong industry.”
More than two decades later, Downing said he didn’t remember what preceded Moss’ words, but the wisdom stuck.
“I just remember the comment very vividly from him,” Downing said. “It was out at a walkthrough and I remember thinking I’m going to hang on to that one.”
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