{"id":424474,"date":"2026-01-21T21:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T21:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/424474\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T21:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T21:59:09","slug":"bills-receiver-coleman-draws-attention-in-aftermath-of-mcdermotts-firing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/424474\/","title":{"rendered":"Bills receiver Coleman draws attention in aftermath of McDermott’s firing"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 As if Buffalo Bills<\/a> wide receiver Keon Coleman<\/a> didn\u2019t attract enough negative attention for showing up late to meetings during an underperforming season.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the second-year player was drawn into the conversation involving team owner Terry Pegula\u2019s abrupt decision to fire coach Sean McDermott on Monday.<\/p>\n

Pegula shared the podium with general manager Brandon Beane during an end-of-season news conference. And the owner interjected when questions turned to Beane\u2019s failure to improve the team\u2019s group of receivers last offseason and Coleman\u2019s lack of development.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I interrupt?\u201d the owner said. \u201cI\u2019ll address the Keon situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pegula then explained it was the coaching staff that pushed for Coleman being the Bills\u2019 second-round pick in the 2024 draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying Brandon wouldn\u2019t have drafted him. But he wasn\u2019t his next choice,\u201d Pegula said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was Brandon being a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff who felt strongly about the player,\u201d he added. \u201cHe\u2019s taken, for some reason, heat over it, and not saying a word about it. But I\u2019m here to tell you the true story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pegula later clarified to The Associated Press he was not referring to McDermott, but rather another coach, whom he declined to name.<\/p>\n

Beane somewhat contradicted Pegula by saying Coleman was \u201cmy pick,\u201d before suggesting what Pegula meant is Buffalo could have considered addressing another position with the selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, I\u2019m not turning a pick for a player that I don\u2019t think we can succeed with. So, don\u2019t misunderstand that,\u201d Beane added.<\/p>\n

Buffalo twice traded back in the draft order before selecting Coleman with the first pick of the second round.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s not up for debate is the Florida State product\u2019s inconsistencies in Buffalo.<\/p>\n

After a promising start to his rookie season, a hand injury limited Coleman to finishing with 29 catches for 556 yards and four touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Coleman then showed promising signs of development during training camp, and opened the season with an eight-catch, 112-yard, one-TD outing in a 41-40 win over Baltimore. Very little went right since.<\/p>\n

Coleman was disciplined by having to sit out the opening series of a loss to New England in Week 5. A month later, the 22-year-old was a healthy scratch in a game against Tampa Bay. It marked the third time he had been disciplined after also being late for a meeting during his rookie season.<\/p>\n

Each time Coleman vowed to do better, and finished the season with 38 catches for 404 yards and four TDs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s up to us to work with him and develop him,\u201d Beane said of Coleman.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis issues have not been on the field. They\u2019ve just been maturity things that he owns,\u201d he added. \u201cI give him credit. He doesn\u2019t make excuses, which I appreciate.\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 As if Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman didn\u2019t attract enough negative attention…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-424474","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\/424474","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=424474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}