Patriots rookie QB Mac Jones: ‘Can’t be afraid’ of Cowboys star Trevon Diggs
Jori EpsteinFRISCO, Texas — As Troy Aikman provided color analysis for the Cowboys-Giants game last week, he drew the comparison.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones then dared to connect the dots in the postgame tunnel, likening second-year cornerback Trevon Diggs to Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
Six interceptions in five games. On pace for 20 takeaways in just Year 2 of his career, after no player has intercepted more than 10 passes in a season the last 30 years.
Cowboys teammates laugh each time the next ball is picked off, asking themselves: Why are quarterbacks still throwing to Diggs?
“There’s a lot of talk about shutdown corners in our league, and Deion Sanders was the only guy I know who’s a shutout corner,” said Aikman, Sanders’ Cowboys teammate for five seasons. “He’d go weeks without even getting a ball in his vicinity. I really do believe there’s going to be a time when (Diggs will) get tested every now and then, but you’re going to be real smart with the football when you start putting it up. Especially on deep balls when you think you have a guy because he’s so fast.
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“There’s going to come a time real soon where quarterbacks are just simply not going to throw the ball in his direction.”
Through five weeks, no opponent has executed that game plan. Every team the Cowboys have faced tempts Diggs. New quarterbacks continue to join the increasingly less-exclusive club of opponents to complete a pass to him in 2021.
As the 2-3 Patriots host the 4-1 Cowboys this weekend, New England rookie quarterback Mac Jones suggested he won’t be the first to avoid Diggs.
“You can’t be afraid of anybody or anything like that,” Jones told reporters. “You just have to know where he’s at because you have to respect him, respect his game, respect his knowledge.”
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‘I still haven’t proven anything’
Diggs was an NFL rookie last season when Jones took over as Alabama starter. But the two were nonetheless Alabama teammates for three seasons, a stretch plenty long enough for Diggs to intercept Jones in practice.
“He definitely made plays,” Jones said of their Tuscaloosa intrasquad battles. “He’s very instinctual, very smart, fast, quick, explosive, strong.”
Diggs echoes the praise of Jones’ high football IQ. Through five games, the 15th overall selection of the 2021 NFL draft has completed 71.1% of passes for 1,243 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. Three interceptions came during a 28-13 loss to the Saints in Week 3. Diggs hopes to add to that count while also expressing belief in Jones’ ability, accuracy and range. The Patriots quarterback can hit short, intermediate and deep balls, Diggs insists.
Which prompts the question: On which of those throws must Jones most carefully beware Diggs’ sticky hands? His interceptions have come on a curl, an over route and a deep post; at the ball’s apex and via dives; with fluidity and with bobbles. In a 44-20 win over the Giants last week, Diggs’ interception was actually the third Giants pass attempt he got a hand on—and though his first two amounted to a drop and out-of-bounds ruling, Diggs and teammates fed off the electric crowd.
Jones has averaged 38 pass attempts per Patriots game, which sounds to Diggs like 38 chances to threaten. The first-year passer, however, has been cautious in his approach thus far, his 17.6% aggressiveness rating (throws into tight-window coverage) tied for fourth-lowest among all quarterbacks, according to Next Gen Stats.
Diggs said Thursday he didn’t yet know which receiving target he’d match up with, third-year receiver Jakobi Meyers leading the charge with 31 catches for 302 yards but tight end Hunter Henry the only target to catch multiple touchdowns (he has two). Diggs’ assignment may be less obvious than against opponents featuring a clear top threat. But Diggs doesn’t expect his role to shift the Patriots’ plan.
“I feel like teams are going to continue to try me,” he said. “I feel like I still haven’t proven anything. I still haven’t proven nothing to myself. So I feel like teams probably feel like that too.
“They’re going to keep trying me and I’ve just got to keep capitalizing on the opportunities.”
A wolf in sheep’s clothing
At times, opponents capitalize instead on Diggs’ aggressive tendencies. Giants rookie receiver Kadarius Toney burned Diggs on a double route for 35 yards in the third quarter last week. Chargers receiver Keenan Allen outraced Diggs down the sideline Week 2 for a 42-yard go ball. And yet, takeaways are effective at bandaging such gashes. According to Pro Football Focus, quarterbacks average a league-worst passer rating of 38.9 when targeting Diggs. Spiking the ball every play, per PFF, grades out more favorably.
Coaches and teammates credit Diggs’ ball-tracking ability as a key ingredient in consistently anticipating routes. The former receiver—Diggs said this week he cried when Alabama coach Nick Saban told him to transition to defensive back—understands intricately route concepts and intentions, leveraging that for effective film study. He need not watch the ball to sense its presence, Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said. The gift reminds Quinn of seven-time Pro Bowl receiver Julio Jones.
“I remember many times at practice with Julio Jones where the ball will be here and he puts his head down and starts digging again to go get it,” said Quinn, Jones’ former head coach in Atlanta. “Usually you see a guy just running and looking at it and diving... Having those kind of ball skills where you know where it is, where to track it, where it’s going to be, that’s a whole other level.
“I’d love to say we’ve been really coaching Trevon up on that, but that would be a lot of (expletive).”
Diggs’ instincts and makeup outside of the building have undoubtedly contributed, summer sessions with brother and Bills Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs further sharpening his anticipation. The quiet-natured player is more likely to light up at 4-year-old son Aaiden than he is to bark off the field transitions to a “rare competitor,” Quinn says, on it.
“Don’t confuse the quiet demeanor,” Quinn said. “This is a true wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Wolf or sheep, Jones says he isn’t afraid of the defender come Sunday’s matchup at Foxborough. Diggs prefers it that way.
“I know he’s not scared of me,” Diggs said. “He comes from where I come from, so I know what type of person he is and what type of heart he’s got. I know.
“I hope they don’t stop throwing at me.”
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.
