For years, wide receiver Stefon Diggs has feasted on the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 4 career games against the Steelers, he’s notched 29 catches for 328 yards and 2 TDs. But one question arises as they prep for the third week against the same team: Does Diggs want the ball enough? It is a paradox for the Patriots‘ new era, answered by the OC himself.

Stefon Diggs’s individual stats from that win against the Dolphins were, by his standards, a whisper. Just 4 catches of 5 targets for 32 yards. For a player who has demanded the spotlight, this silence is deafening and, according to OC Josh McDaniels, it’s a beautiful thing. The coach, a man with a career record of 20-33 as a head coach and some winning seasons, seemed revitalized as he praised his new weapon. “I haven’t heard Stef say one thing about ‘I need the ball,’ one time ever,” he said. “That’s not something I’ve ever heard, and honestly, that would surprise me.”

McDaniels noted. “Look, every skill player wants the ball. Every skill player wants to help the team win the best they can. But, Stef, whether he’s out there blocking, running routes, catching the ball, whatever it is, he does his job the best he can.” Per stats, Diggs is doing it well enough to be the team leader in catches (10) and targets (12) after two games. However, rumors floated that Diggs is not happy with the number of targets he is receiving and that he has been lobbying for targets behind the scenes. And that might be somewhat true.

Stefon Diggs may have started both games, but his role has looked different. He’s been on the field for only 54% of New England’s offensive snaps, trailing Kayshon Boutte (77%) and Mack Hollins (59%). That’s unusual for Diggs, who’s topped 78% in every season he’s played, even after coming back from his ACL injury to take on a full training camp. The big question now is whether the Patriots are easing him in or if this lighter workload is part of the long-term plan.

The team’s total O-output, with 669 yds and 334.5 yds per game, is solid. But the passing game (487 total yds, 243.5 yds/g) has been pretty inconsistent, marked by missed opportunities and penalties. Last week against Miami, Diggs put up just 3.2 fantasy points. This is not the Diggs of old, the one who rattled off 6 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 2018 to 2023. However, McDaniels’s praise for Diggs’s unselfishness feels like a counter-narrative to the receiver’s history. Diggs, according to McDaniels, is a “very bright” and “unselfish” guy with “a lot of game experience.” 

And that brings us to Drake Maye, the second-year quarterback who just put up what ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky called “the best game of his, as a professional.”

Stefon Diggs’ QB Drake Maye’s greatest triumph

In a gritty win against the Dolphins, Maye looked like the franchise QB everyone hoped he would be, a magician in and out of the pocket. He was a force of nature, 19-of-23 passing for 230 yds and 2 TDs, all while adding up 10 carries for 31 yds and another score on the ground.

The offense was in sync for the first time all season, a testament to Maye’s growth and, perhaps more surprisingly, the system that now surrounds him. Orlovsky was more than impressed, telling Pat McAfee on his show that the athletic Maye looked like a new man out there.

“I thought, when it comes to some of the stuff Drake Maye did, now a little bit is a credit to Josh McDaniels, I thought they moved them a lot more. He’s such a big-time athlete.” And so the stage is set for an intriguing Week 3 matchup against the Steelers. 

Maye and his revamped offense, which had 56.7% motion on dropbacks in Week 2, are absolutely cooking, but they’ll need their Diggs (who mucks up new names for his baby) to show up against a defense that’s given up 31.5 points in the first two games.