FRISCO, Texas (AP) – Trevon Diggs spent more time with reporters Wednesday than the soft-spoken Dallas Cowboys cornerback normally does if he’s holding a weekly session.

The reason was clear. It was Diggs’ first time answering questions since he confronted a television reporter, still in uniform, just minutes after last weekend’s 30-24 loss to San Francisco.

Diggs apologized to the reporter, who later said he was sorry for the misinterpretation of a post on

The post-match dialogue between Diggs and the reporter, who went right outside the locker room before opening to the media, was captured on video. Diggs did not speak to reporters in the locker room.

“I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I’m sorry about that,” Diggs said as he turned to look at the reporter while answering a question from another media member. “Most of them caught me at the right time.”

The episode raised many questions about Diggs’ priorities during the Cowboys’ (3-4) second two-game losing streak of the season, which visits NFC South-leading Atlanta (5-3) on Sunday.

The 2021 All-Pro defended himself against the perception of checking his phone immediately after the game.

“The year is 2024. This is what social media is,” Diggs said. “This is part of our lives now. I don’t see anything wrong with me going online after the game or anyone else going online after the game and checking what you want to check. Maybe I’d like to step away from the game and just scroll, you know.”

Diggs was a second-round pick out of Alabama in 2020, and now-retired coach Nick Saban was preaching about avoiding outside noise, which he called “rat poison.”

The smile on that reminder was like Diggs admitting he failed his former college coach’s test.

“Yeah, maybe a little bit of rat poison,” said Diggs, who had the NFL’s first double-digit tackle season in 40 years with 11 when he became an All-Pro three years ago. “I got a little bit trapped.”

On the play in question, the Cowboys were man-to-man and Kittle broke away from safety Donovan Wilson for the big gain.

As Diggs ran with his man, he looked up and saw Kittle. He continued to trail the play and was rewarded with a tackle after forcing Kittle out of bounds at the Dallas 4-yard line. That’s why Diggs said he was upset about the post.

“I was the last line of defense and I felt like I was stopping him from scoring,” Diggs said. “I shot the highest angle. “I didn’t think my efforts were a problem.”

Diggs missed practice Wednesday with a calf injury and is about a year removed from surgery for a torn knee ligament that sidelined him for all but two games last season.

Part of the reason his play was called into question was because Diggs showed up in a game where he said he “felt like himself.” He seemed to be saying that this was a first since the injury suffered in training.

“I won’t say it’s hard. It just took some getting used to,” Diggs said. “I felt like it was a year after my surgery and that was like my year mark and I felt good hitting, tackling, running and cutting.

Coach Mike McCarthy said he did not view Diggs’ outburst as a sign of trouble in the Dallas locker room, and owner/general manager Jerry Jones had no problem with the 26-year-old’s reaction.

“We all realize you have to ‘bite your lip’ where you need to,” Jones said on his radio show. “You want to avoid overdoing it for this purpose. This is an emotional game. Seeing the manifestation of emotions does not scare me in any way.”

Diggs acknowledged the frustration that led to the shooting.

“This is tough. We’re losing. It doesn’t feel good. I hate losing,” Diggs said. “You want to win so much that you do everything you can to win, but you can’t. It’s easy to get frustrated.”

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