Where Dallas Cowboys' Trevon Diggs is in the wrong for heated exchange with reporter
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs put himself on the spotlight moments after the team's 30-24 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8 by going after a reporter for a social media post criticizing his play. Specifically, Diggs took issue with WFAA's Mike Leslie, who tweeted "What is Trevon Diggs doing on this play?" while […]
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs put himself on the spotlight moments after the team's 30-24 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8 by going after a reporter for a social media post criticizing his play.
Specifically, Diggs took issue with WFAA's Mike Leslie, who tweeted "What is Trevon Diggs doing on this play?" while sharing a clip of one of the biggest plays in the game, in which George Kittle made a third quarter catch that set the Niners up for a first and goal.
Diggs' immediate protest to Leslie seemed to come from a stance that Kittle wasn't even his assignment on the play, as he told him "Out of that whole play, that's what you took from that?" before telling the reporter "you don't know football, you cannot do nothing that I do" and suggesting they could "talk about these nuts" when asked if he'd answer the question.
Listen, it's easy to understand Diggs is coming from. The Cowboys were in man coverage and based on the replay, safety Donovan Wilson was assigned to Kittle. He's the one who got beat, not Trevon, who was covering wide receiver Chris Conley downfield.
But here's where Diggs is in the wrong: Wilson got beat. That's one thing.
A whole different thing is straight up giving up on a play and visibly fail to put up an effort to make the tackle. Perhaps it's that Diggs thought he didn't have a chance at making a play or that a teammate would get there earlier but there's no effort in that particular moment. At one point, he's simply staring at Kittle aiming to the endzone while jogging without any intent of making a tackle. It's unacceptable.
To make matters worse, tackling isn't an uncommon theme for Diggs. Even earlier in the game, Diggs had a chance at making a tackle on 49ers RB Isaac Guerendo. Instead, he tries to bring him down with a shove. He fails to do so, which leads to at least five more yards from Guerendo.
And even if Diggs was completely in the right, which I don't personally believe, him going at a reporter is just a bad look. The Cowboys are 3-4 and the soundbites from execs, coaches, and players keep sounding like those of a team slowly spiraling out of control.
The Cowboys are running out of time to right the ship and the truth is, they've yet to give us any reason to believe they will.
