Stefon Diggs looking smooth in return to Patriots OTAs after absence, viral video

Diggs was a limited participant as he recovers from his torn ACL.

As the New England Patriots took the practice field on Monday to kick off the final week of organized team activities, they did so with wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who waved to reporters as he took the field.

“Nice to see y’all,” was his message to the spectators.

Diggs’ presence inside the building and on the practice fields was notable after the veteran receiver was absent all last week and drew attention to himself for a video on a boat in Miami.

While Diggs has not been a complete stranger to Foxboro this offseason, the 31-year-old has not held a steady presence during the voluntary part of the offseason to date.

“It’s a voluntary part of the year, we know that,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Monday. “I don’t know if we have ever had perfect attendance at these things in general. As a coach, selfishly, you love it when they’re all here because you feel like you have them all in the classroom and on the field and all the rest of it. He’s here today and we’re excited to have an opportunity to work with the guys that are out here and available to us.

“I know he’s staying up on the information and material and there’s so many things and opportunities for us to teach all our guys going forward — between the rest of the practices in the spring and then going into the summer and the many days we have before we actually kick the ball off in September. I’m not concerned about Stef in that regard.”

During his return to practice on Monday, Diggs looked sharp in and out of his cuts and while changing direction as he continues to recover from a torn ACL he suffered last October. The wide receiver shared shortly after he signed with the team back in March that he was ahead of schedule in his rehab.

While Diggs took part of individual drills and full offensive work against no defense, he worked off to the side — with fellow wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk, who is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery — during competitive team periods.

“As far as the conversations with Stef, I’ll keep the stuff we talk about between the two of us,” wide receiver coach Todd Downing said. “I think there’s some carryover from what he did in Buffalo with [Brian] Daboll back in the day, so there’s a little bit of ‘same as’ and a little bit of refresher course.”