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Alaina Getzenberg
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman was benched for the first offensive series of Sunday night’s loss to the New England Patriots for “discipline,” coach Sean McDermott said Monday.
Coleman sat out the six-play drive that ended with a fumble on a botched handoff from quarterback Josh Allen intended for tight end Dawson Knox. He started the previous four games this season.
McDermott said during his Monday news conference that the incident stemmed from something that happened during the week leading up to the game but did not get into the specifics.
Coleman, a 2024 second-round pick, was also benched for the first quarter of a Week 3 game last season against the Jacksonville Jaguars after being late for a meeting.
McDermott was asked whether there was disappointment that another issue created the need for Sunday’s benching, to which he said: “Yes.”
Coleman, 22, was on the field for the first play of the second offensive series and finished with 42 snaps (62%), catching four of his seven targets for 23 yards and a touchdown. He also had a fumble that resulted in the Patriots getting the ball at the Buffalo 11-yard line.
“We expect more, and he has shown growth this year. He has,” McDermott said. “We’re looking for more consistency.”
When asked if that means consistency in a specific area, McDermott said: “Growth, maturation. That leads to consistency more than anything, and like anything else, you have winning habits, it leads to winning on the field. And so, that’s really what we’re trying to create, and that’s what we’re here to do is help young men in this case grow and mature and develop and become professionals, and that’s part of the process.”
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady said Monday that Coleman can be more consistent by being where he is supposed to be.
“When he’s there doing his job, doing his 1/11th and just being accountable to the 10 other guys in the huddle with him at any given moment,” Brady said. “You see the growth, you see the plays that he has out there, but it just needs to be the consistent level.”
