.jpg?w=1280 "Patriots Buccaneers Football")
Stefon Diggs Talked 'Mad Junk' to TreVeyon Henderson Before Patriots RB's Long TDs
New England Patriots wideout Stefon Diggs said he gave rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson a bit of a motivational speech before his pair of long touchdown runs during the second half of Sunday's win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"I'm proud of him. ... He's finally scoring touchdowns, finally running away from guys," Diggs told reporters. "We're kind of hard on everybody, (and) I'm definitely hard on TreVeyon, just because I see so much potential in him. When one guy tackles him and stuff like that—I've been around some great backs in my career, and I was telling him, 'Those great backs don't get tackled. I want to see you score.' I was talking mad junk to him at halftime. I was just being hard on him. So him coming out there and busting two of them, it's like, it's good to be hard on people, I guess."
Whatever Diggs said, it worked. Henderson reeled off touchdown runs of 55 yards in the third quarter and 69 yards in the fourth quarter during the 28-23 win. He rushed for 147 yards in total, the first 100-yard game of his NFL career.
To this point, Henderson has been stuck in a bit of a backfield platoon. But Sunday's breakthrough performance, with an assist from Diggs, may finally cement him as the clear No. 1 back in New England.
"He keeps me motivated—he really does. He's such a great leader on this field," Henderson told reporters regarding of Diggs. "He gets all the guys going. He is always in my ear, but he keeps me motivated."
