Stefon Diggs picked the wrong time to go for a hug.
The Maryland native had a respectable debut for his hometown team Sunday, catching four passes for 55 yards against the Eagles with a fourth-quarter touchdown. But Diggs’ celebration proved to be costly, as it prevented the team from attempting to tie the game early in the fourth quarter.
The Commanders fell to the Eagles, 24-22, after a failed two-point conversion with 1:01 left in the game. But Diggs deprived his team of another two-point try earlier in the quarter. After connecting with Jayden Daniels on a 10-yard pass for his first Commanders touchdown, Diggs launched himself into the goal post and hugged it, immediately drawing a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. (Any contact with the goal post results in a penalty.)
The flag cost the Commanders a chance to go for two at that point, which coach Dan Quinn said he would have done. Ultimately, the Commanders hit a 48-yard extra point to make the score 17–16.
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“I take full accountability,” Diggs told reporters after the game. He added that the Commanders’ offensive struggles through the first three quarters had frustrated him, which caused him to overcelebrate on the touchdown.
“When we clicked after not clicking for a little while, it got to me a little.”
Diggs, who also starred at Maryland, led the team in targets in the game with nine, and finished second in yards to rookie wide receiver Antonio Williams, who had four catches for 64 yards and the touchdown that set up Washington’s failed two-point conversion at the end of the game. (Washington’s primary pass catcher, Terry McLaurin, caught just two passes for 14 yards on four targets.)
The 32-year-old signed with his hometown team after spending last season with the AFC champion Patriots, catching 85 passes for 1,013 yards. He was released in March while facing charges of strangulation, assault and battery over a dispute with his former private chef. He was found not guilty in May and cleared by the NFL in June of any punishment in relation to its personal conduct policy.
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