The Buffalo Bills benched wide receiver Keon Coleman for last week’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he missed a team meeting, but it remains unclear if the punishment will end there.
The second-year wide receiver had already been benched once this season for being late to a team meeting, sitting out the opening drive of the team’s loss to the New England Patriots, and missed an entire game after the second infraction this year. Though Bills head coach Sean McDermott has hinted that Coleman is building back trust, the team has not announced whether he will take the field on Thursday against the Houston Texans.
Bills Quiet on Keon Coleman’s Status
As SI.com writer Alex Brasky noted, the Bills have remained quiet about whether Coleman will return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch against the Buccaneers. Brasky noted that the Bills may need Coleman given injuries to Curtis Samuel and Mecole Hardman, but McDermott would not make a firm commitment about his status.
âItâs one day at a time and earning the trust and respect of his teammates, that takes time,â McDermott said. âEach day that goes by, you check them off as wins, the trust builds. So, that’s the important piece of it.â
Coleman has shown flashes of strong play through his first season and a half. In the team’s season-opening win over the Baltimore Ravens, he made eight receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown, but has struggled to make an impact since then. Coleman has just 24 receptions for 218 yards and two touchdowns in the eight games he played since then.
The receiver, the team’s top draft pick in 2024, has also turned heads with some comments about his punishment. When asked by a reporter if he received the message from McDermott, Coleman replied, âNah, I wouldnât say that.â
Coleman also had a terse reply when asked why he seems to keep running into disciplinary problems.
âMistakes happen. Things happen but again, got to be better,” Coleman said.
Bills Facing Challenge on a Short Week
The Bills are suffering the effects of a short week after the injuries to Samuel and Hardman. After signing Hardman to the active roster last week, the former Kansas City Chiefs receiver made a quick impression by gaining 61 yards on the team’s first kickoff return of the game.
Hardman missed practice on Tuesday, and the team may be preparing for him to miss the game as they brought back return specialist Brandon Codrington, who was released last week to clear a roster spot for Hardman.
The Bills could be missing some other key weapons on offense, including tight end Dalton Kincaid. He also missed last week’s win over the Buccaneers with an injured hamstring, taking away one of the favorite targets for quarterback Josh Allen.
The Bills have a big opportunity to climb back into the race for the AFC East and gain a win against a team below them in the wild-card standings. The Bills have already beaten the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, the other two teams behind them in the standings.
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