Veteran LB Diggs has hung on to starting job with solid play December 19
Gaston Gazette
"When the Carolina Panthers signed unrestricted free agent Landon Johnson this off-season, the only conclusion you could make from that move was that Na'il Diggs' days as a starter were numbered.
How often does a team pay a guy $10 million over three years and not make him the starter?
With former first-round picks Thomas Davis and Jon Beason locked in as starters, it seemed Diggs would be the odd man out. But coach John Fox has always held the belief that jobs are won and lost based on production on the football field rather than a player's W2 forms.
Diggs, who started the previous two seasons, opened up in minicamp as the team's starting strong side linebacker and never surrendered it. He's started every game and has quietly put together a solid season with 57 tackles, two pass breakups, an interception and a sack.
Meanwhile, Johnson has been almost a non-factor for Panthers on defense with seven tackles and one forced fumble.
"I wouldn't really say I held him off. I think I looked at it in a very professional way, I really didn't look at it as a money factor," Diggs said of the competition with Johnson. "This is my ninth year and I've seen guys come in and out, regardless of money and do well or not do well. I think Landon's a great football player. I took the approach to just do what I do, to really bust my tail in camp, to stay focused, to not get caught up in why are they bringing this guy in, all the sideline stuff and just basically focus on that's making the team better.
"That's all I did. I didn't look at it like, 'Oh, I've got to fight this guy off.' I just kept to the grind, kept doing what I did for nine years."
Said coach John Fox: "We brought new guys in. We brought a running back in, too. You want competition and you want depth. Na'il was a good player for us a year ago and he worked very hard this offseason and he's been a good football player again for us this year. Competition is a good thing."
Diggs said during his time in the league he's seen guys sulk when a team signs a player at his position.
He decided that wasn't the way he wanted to approach it.
He talked with some members of the coaching staff and knew the Panthers were going to sign Johnson even before it happened.
That gave him time to put things in perspective.
"I felt like if I was doing something that wrong, I wouldn't be here," said Diggs, also an important member of Carolina's special teams units. "If they wanted to replace me, I wouldn't be here. I just roll with the punches. I didn't look at it too much like, 'Oh, they're going to do this and do that to me,' because you don't know, really."
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