Patriots' Stefon Diggs puts release rumors to rest by attending OTAs after yacht party controversy

Stefon Diggs' career with the New England Patriots has not been off to a great start. The wide receiver skipped the first part of the OTAs, and a video of Diggs in a boat with an unidentified pink substance made waves through social media. Head coach Mike Vrabel was unimpressed.

However, starting a new week of OTAs seems to have cooled minds around New England. When practice arrived on Monday, reporters following the team saw Diggs joining the field for the first time during the voluntary workouts.

In the video posted by CBS Sports on Instagram, Diggs even had a message to them, as he screamed:

"Nice to see you all."

Although OTAs are voluntary for all teams, with Mike Vrabel joining the team as their new head coach, every minute in the practice field is valuable. Diggs, a veteran wide receiver, might not need to be present at all times. However, the videos that surfaced last week certainly did not help his case.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels highlighted how pleased he was with his presence:

"It's a voluntary part of the year, we know that. I don't know if we have ever had perfect attendance at these things in general. As a coach, selfishly, you love it when they're all here because you feel like you have them all in the classroom and on the field and all the rest of it.

"He's here today and we're excited to have an opportunity to work with the guys that are out here and available to us."

Mike Vrabel joked about "voluntary" workouts before Stefon Diggs' situation

New England was able to start its offseason program before other NFL teams because of a new head coach. However, the nature of workouts in the first phases of the offseason isn't mandatory. Speaking about the situation, Vrabel had an interesting comment:

“I write a letter voluntarily to the players to make sure that they voluntarily read it and voluntarily show up.”

It's clear that the new coaching staff wasn't happy with the released videos, but the situation now seems to be amended and everyone can move on. Mike Vrabel surely wants to focus on more important things than his veteran wide receiver partying on a boat.