Mike Evans finished a play at Lumen Field on Sunday, grabbed the Seattle Seahawks defensive back he had been blocking by the shoulders and turned him around to look at the name on the back of his jersey. The San Francisco 49ers receiver said afterward that he could not tell who was under the helmet.
The defensive back was Trevon Diggs, and he answered the jersey check with a shove to Evans’ facemask. No flag came out, and Evans was still unhappy about that when he spoke to reporters after San Francisco’s 32-29 win.
“I was blocking him until the whistle and he said I’m doing extra or something like that, and I didn’t know that was him at first because I played against him a few times and we’ve always been cool. He’s a good player. I honestly didn’t know it was him because in the helmet it’s hard to tell sometimes. I said who are you and looked to make sure and I was like ‘Oh, it’s f—ing Diggs’, and then he mushed me. That should have been a penalty. It is what it is.”
Evans called Diggs a good player and someone he has always been cool with, and in the same answer explained that he could not place him. Diggs, who has not commented publicly, heard that question at the lowest point of his career.
Mike Evans had to check the back of Diggs’ jersey to see who was talking https://t.co/ObLahrf15D
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 11, 2026
Mike Evans on what he said to Trevon Diggs:
“I was blocking him until the whistle and he said I’m doing extra or something like that, and I didn’t know that was him at first because I played against him a few times and we’ve always been cool. He’s a good player. I honestly didn’t know it was him because in the helmet it’s hard to tell sometimes. I said who are you and looked to make sure and I was like ‘Oh, it’s Diggs’, and then he mushed me. That should have been a penalty. It is what it is.”
— Coach Yac
(@Coach_Yac) October 12, 2026
Why Evans’ ‘who are you’ cut deeper
Diggs led the NFL in interceptions in 2021 and was a first-team All-Pro that season, then signed a five-year, $97 million extension with the Dallas Cowboys. Injuries followed, and after a stop in Green Bay he landed in Seattle, where he was released at the August roster cutdown and brought back on the practice squad. Seattle elevated him for Sunday’s game.
Evans and the Buccaneers beat Diggs and the Cowboys in the 2021 and 2022 regular seasons before Dallas won their Wild Card meeting in January 2023. Back then, Diggs was the defender offenses game-planned around, and no receiver needed to check his nameplate.
“Mike plays with an edge,” 49ers left tackle Trent Williams said, calling the moment “pretty funny.”
Evans backed the edge with the kind of afternoon San Francisco signed him for in March, when he agreed to a three-year deal worth up to $60.4 million. With the 49ers short on receivers, he finished with 113 yards and a touchdown. On the 74-yard fourth-quarter drive that put San Francisco ahead, he caught four passes for 75 yards and then converted the two-point try from Brock Purdy.
Eddy Pineiro’s 44-yard field goal with 1:56 left decided it, and the 49ers left Seattle at 5-0 with a two-game lead in the NFC West over the 3-2 Seahawks.
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The post ‘Honestly didn’t know it was him’: Mike Evans has brutally honest explanation for Trevon Diggs confrontation in Seattle appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.