ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman took responsibility for what led to him being benched for Buffalo\u2019s opening drive and then losing a fumble two series later against New England on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust got to be more accountable,\u201d Coleman said Thursday when the Bills (4-1) returned to practice to prepare for their game against Atlanta (2-2) on Monday night. \u201cThings happen. You just got to do your best to try to eliminate them.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, Coleman showed he won\u2019t let a few setbacks get him down by making a 2-yard touchdown catch in a late-game rally that fell short in a 23-20 loss.<\/p>\n
\u201d(It showed) I\u2019m a ballplayer and that you can count on me to make plays when they need to be made,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I know a lot of that won\u2019t matter if you\u2019re not doing the things you\u2019re supposed to do on the flip side of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coleman said he and coach Sean McDermott are on the same page. And Coleman even cited the coach in saying he has to show a higher level of \u201cmaturity.\u201d<\/p>\n
In revealing Coleman\u2019s benching Monday, McDermott used that exact word in explaining what he expected out of player.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowth, maturation, that leads to consistency more than anything,\u201d McDermott said. \u201cAnd like anything else, when you have winning habits, it leads to winning on the field. And so that\u2019s really what we\u2019re trying to create.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDermott and Coleman didn\u2019t provide the reason behind the disciplinary action, which followed a similar benching during his rookie season last year. Coleman hinted it was the result of him being late for a meeting by saying: \u201cJust knowing where I had to be and being on top of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the fumble, Coleman accepted blame for that, too. He said he failed to tuck the ball before losing it at Buffalo\u2019s 11, which led to New England opening the scoring on Andy Borregales\u2019 30-yard field goal.<\/p>\n
The turnover was one of a season-high three the Bills committed against New England, with Josh Allen throwing an interception and also losing a fumble on a flubbed handoff to tight end Dawson Knox.<\/p>\n
Much has been expected from the former Florida State star, Buffalo\u2019s first pick and the first player selected in the second round of the 2024 draft.<\/p>\n
His inconsistencies were apparent last year, when his production varied. After a two-game midseason stretch in which Coleman combined for nine catches for 195 yards and a touchdown, he followed with a eight receptions for 160 yards and a TD over Buffalo\u2019s final six games.<\/p>\n
This season, Coleman opened with an eight-catch, 112-yard and a TD outing in a 41-40 win over Baltimore. He has since combined for 13 catches for 114 yards and a score.<\/p>\n
Coleman said he can do better and is bothered by how the benching reflects on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is frustrating because you know you\u2019re better than that as a person and an individual and you don\u2019t like the things that it shows,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cSometimes it might show that you don\u2019t care and things like that. And that\u2019s not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen maintains his trust in Coleman.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he knows,\u201d Allen said. \u201cAt the end of the day, this locker room, this team, you don\u2019t ever want to let your teammates down. And I think he understands that, and he doesn\u2019t want to let us down. We move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nfl<\/p>\n
John Wawrow, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman took responsibility for what led to him being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-201117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}