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LB Na'il Diggs (Official Thread)

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POSITION BATTLES: Na?il Diggs continues to work with the first team at strongside linebacker ahead of Landon Johnson, the team?s highest-paid free agent pickup this year.

Johnson accepted a three-year, $10 million contract from the Panthers but is having trouble breaking into the starting lineup. Diggs is playing well, but he?d better stay healthy this year in training camp. Given Johnson?s salary, the Panthers have to be anxious to get him on the field. But it?s always nice to have an insurance policy, too.
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SUNDAY WRAP: Panthers simplifying things on defense this year - CarolinaGrowl.com
 
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Notes: Digg-ing the competition
August 7, 2008
Andrew Mason
Panthers.com

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Linebacker Na'il Diggs has been working with the first team at strongside linebacker throughout training camp. (Photo: Andrew Mason)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Na'il Diggs has received plenty of work with the first team during training camp, but knows he's in a fierce competition with free-agent acquisition Landon Johnson for the strongside linebacker slot.

For Diggs, there's only one way to handle the situation -- head-on.

"It's a competition. You always just keep your head on straight and compete," Diggs said. "No matter what it is or whoever they brought in, I would still look at it the same way and just compete, go out there every play and compete and get better."

Even though he and Johnson are striving for the same spot, Diggs can appreciate Johnson's progress in his first training camp with Carolina following a stint in Cincinnati, in part due to a simplification of the system.

"He's catching on pretty well," Diggs said. "(The defense) is actually -- I wouldn't say a lot easier, but it's easier than last year. It's not as complicated. We don't have as many checks and things like that do it.

"But he's doing a good job learning and he's coming along pretty well, actually. I expect probably in these preseason games he'll know a good part of the defense and be comfortable."

Comfort, though, is not a luxury that training camp affords. But Diggs' advantage in the scramble for position is not only his experience in Carolina's defensive scheme -- this is his third year with the team -- but also his familiarity with the other side of that line of defense, as he handled weakside duties last season.

"Not only do we have to know our side, but we've got to know what Thomas Davis does or James Anderson does at the (weak side)," Diggs said.

"It's helping us understand our defense."
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Panthers.com
 
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... Strongside linebacker Na'il Diggs made a strong play during a running backs/tight ends-versus-safeties/linebackers drill, lunging to intercept a Jake Delhomme pass in the right flat. Diggs later swatted away a Lester Ricard pass at the line of scrimmage during a team period ...

Panthers.com
 
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The strong side is manned by 9th year LB Na'il Diggs. Though many people (including myself) assumed Diggs would lose his starting position the past two training camps due to his age when in fact I think he's just gotten stronger with age (the guy has some guns!). Diggs provides some spark and has the strength to take on opposing full backs.
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Second homecoming for Panthers' Diggs
By John Delong
JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: November 27, 2008

CHARLOTTE - Na'il Diggs has already dealt with the emotions of playing against his former team.

He returned to Green Bay, where he spent his first six NFL seasons, last year when the Carolina Panthers lost to the Packers 31-17.

So Diggs, the Panthers' veteran strong-side linebacker, will be dealing with a different set of emotions when the Panthers return to Lambeau Field on Sunday to take on the Packers.

He and the rest of the Panthers' defense will be attempting to bounce back and redeem themselves after last Sunday's 45-28 loss at Atlanta.

"I don't care whether it's Lambeau or the parking lot or the Georgia Dome, we've got to play better football from the first quarter to the fourth quarter," Diggs said yesterday. "Let's face it, the past few weeks we haven't done that. We need that focus no matter who we're playing or where we're playing. We've got to start faster and play more consistent throughout the game."

The defense gave up five rushing touchdowns at Atlanta, and the 45 points were the most points they have allowed all season. They gave up 28 points in the fourth quarter, although one of those touchdowns came on a punt return.

For Diggs, it was a particularly frustrating performance. He came into the game as the Panthers' fifth-leading tackler and has had 10 or more tackles twice this season, but was shut out at Atlanta. That's the first time in his nine-year career that he hasn't had a tackle in a game he started.

He said he had a chip on his shoulder as the Panthers returned to practice yesterday ... and he wasn't the only one.

"I personally did, not only from getting my butt kicked the other day but because we're to the point in the season where there are teams that are packing it in and others that turn the heat up," he said. "I want to be on the team that turns the heat up, and I want to be one of the players that turns the heat up.

"I think everybody kind of stuck that on their backs going out there today, and we've got to use that to our advantage. Hopefully that was a little wake-up call the other day and opens everybody's eyes, and we get back down to business like we're capable of doing."
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Second homecoming for Panthers' Diggs
 
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Diggs' plan of taking high road has worked
December 19, 2008
Steve Reed

CHARLOTTE - When the Carolina Panthers signed unrestricted free agent Landon Johnson this offseason, 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 W-2 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 what'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."
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Diggs' plan of taking high road has worked | diggs, team, really - Sports - Gaston Gazette
 
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Panthers give Diggs contract extension
Linebacker's new deal now runs to 2014 and was restructured to give team some salary cap relief.
By Charles Chandler
cchandler@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Mar. 04, 2009

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Panthers linebacker Na'il Diggs
The Carolina Panthers created some salary cap room by extending and restructuring the contract of linebacker Na'il Diggs.
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Diggs' contract was due to expire in 2010, but was extended to 2014. He likely received some guaranteed money to be prorated over the life of the new contract and thus provide salary cap relief. His '09 base salary dropped by $725,00 from $1.65million to $925,000, and went down from $2million in 2010 to $855,000.
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Panthers give Diggs contract extension | CharlotteObserver.com
 
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Na'il Diggs could face competition for starting SLB spot
By Dan Parr
June 12, 2009


With 21 of 22 starters from last season returning for the Panthers, legitimate battles for starting jobs in training camp will be few and far between. One could emerge, we hear, at strong-side linebacker. SLB Na?il Diggs, who will turn 31 in July, appears to be one of the team?s most vulnerable returning starters, as the team has sought out competition for him in the past. The Panthers signed Landon Johnson to compete with Diggs on the strong side last offseason, but Johnson was a major disappointment, making just 16 tackles in 15 games in 2008. The most likely competitor for Diggs' starting spot in ?09 is Dan Connor, who is coming off a torn ACL he suffered in Week Three last season after being selected in the third round of the ?08 draft. Connor took snaps with the first-team defense when Diggs sat out during a May minicamp and appears to have recovered well from his injury.
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Carolina - Pro Football Weekly
 
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Unpaid homeowner fees catch up to Carolina Panthers linebacker; suit filed
By JOSH McCANN
jmccann@islandpacket.com

Carolina Panthers linebacker Na'il Diggs is being sued for unpaid assessments and late fees for property he owns in a gated community in greater Bluffton, according to Beaufort County court records.

A representative for Diggs is in discussions to resolve the dispute, a lawyer representing the association said Thursday.

The lawsuit filed July 20 by the Hampton Lake Community Association seeks to foreclose on Diggs' property. It says he owes $3,636 as of May 31 in assessments and late fees, plus attorney's fees and court costs.

Diggs bought the property at 317 Hampton Lake Drive for $169,500 in 2006, according to county records.

Diggs, 31, is a 10th-year pro from Ohio State University. He started 16 games for the Panthers in 2008, recording 54 tackles, a sack and an interception, according to the team's Web site.

Mitch Frankel, Diggs' agent, said Diggs was unaware of the debt and the player had not been notified of the complaint.

The dispute probably resulted from "a slip in the cracks" due to the bill being sent to the wrong address, Frankel said Wednesday. "If he owes it, he would just pay it."

He said a check would be sent next week.

On Thursday, attorney James Hale, who represents the Hampton Lake association, said a representative for Diggs had contacted Hale's assistant.

"I think we're in the process of working something out," Hale said.

If the bill is paid in full, Hale said, he would move to dismiss the case
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islandpacket.com | Unpaid homeowner fees catch up to Carolina Panthers linebacker; suit filed
 
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THE NOTION THAT THE DEFENSIVE INJURIES -- particularly at linebacker -- is a blessing in disguise didn't fly with strongside linebacker Na'il Diggs.

"In my opinion, it's a curse," Diggs said. "I think guys get reps regardless, whether (the team) is healthy and has a full corps of linebackers or not. I think the same attitude should be there whether a bunch of people are healthy or hurt."

Diggs is the only first-team linebacker who has worked fully this week, with Beason out and Thomas Davis limited as he completes his recovery from a sprained medial colleratal ligament suffered three weeks ago. With both sidelined, Diggs shared the linebacking workload with James Anderson on the weak side and Dan Connor at the middle slot.

They'll get a stern challenge from Baltimore's offense, which ranks second in the NFL this preseason with 374.0 yards per game and last year led the AFC in rushing.

"It'll be a good test for us," Diggs said. "It seems like we've got a lot of things to get corrected and ironed out. The more game-like experience we get -- and that even young guys get -- the better we're going to be in the long run."
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Minutes: Williams held out; knee soreness 'nothing serious'
 
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Updated: September 26, 2009
Diggs (ribs) out; 3 others doubtful
Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C -- The Carolina Panthers will likely have a makeshift lineup against Dallas as they try to avoid an 0-3 start

Linebacker Na'il Diggs was declared out of Monday night's game after missing his third straight practice Saturday with bruised ribs. Starting strong safety Chris Harris, top fullback Brad Hoover and defensive end Everette Brown also sat out the workout and are listed as doubtful.
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Na'il Diggs out, 3 other Carolina Panthers doubtful against Dallas Cowboys - ESPN
 
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