Bills Veteran Delivers Harsh Warning to Keon Coleman After Benching
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Keon Coleman #0 of the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman had the support of teammates after his up-and-down rookie season, but now it appears he’s getting a dose of tough love instead.
Coleman was benched for Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he reportedly missed a team meeting on Friday — the third time in a year and a half that he faced discipline for missing team obligations.
After the game, one of the team’s longest-tenured players delivered a harsh warning to Coleman about his future with the team.
Dion Dawkins Warns Receiver
Speaking to reporters after Sunday’s 44-32 win, left tackle Dion Dawkins said he already had a talk with Coleman about taking his obligations more seriously.
“I’ve already spoken to him,” Dawkins said. “When I spoke to Keon before, I said, ‘Bro, look, don’t even worry about it. Everybody goes through a different journey. Let’s just say that this is the last time, and let’s just move forward.’ And he said, ‘I’m with you.’ That’s all we need.”
While Dawkins stressed that he was still supportive of Coleman, he issued a warning that the second-year receiver needed to “grow up.”
“Nobody’s perfect, but in this league we need guys to come on. And Keon knows now he’s in the hot seat, and he needs to come on and show up for us,” Dawkins said. “Pats on the back are over with and it’s time for him to grow up and he knows it. As an older player on the team, we’ve got to hold everybody accountable. And we shoot straight. We don’t sugarcoat it.”
Keon Coleman Was Already in the Crosshairs
Coleman already faced pressure coming into this season, with head coach Sean McDermott saying this summer that his rookie season was “rocky.” Coleman showed flashes of strong play but also missed a long stretch due to injury, then struggled to bring the same production once he returned.
“I thought he got off to a start that he built momentum through, and then he got injured, and then from there on, it was rather rocky,” McDermott said.
“We’re looking for him to learn from those moments of adversity, and come back and have a really, really, really strong offseason and get himself going into the start of season two,” the Bills head coach added. “And that takes a certain type of person with a certain drive and determination and fire in their heart, and it’s going to be Keon’s turn to show that he has that this offseason.”
Dawkins had been supportive of Coleman in the summer, talking up the receiver and predicting he was headed for a big season.
But the receiver continued to struggle with his play, leading to questions about his effort. McDermott again criticized Coleman after last week’s loss to the Miami Dolphins, saying he was not satisfied with his play.
“He knows if I’m not satisfied. It’s fair that you’re asking about,” McDermott said, via SI.com. “I can promise you it gets addressed when it isn’t (satisfactory) or where it needs to be. It’s been addressed … at times it’s been good and other times it can improve.”
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty
Baker Mayfield's reaction to Buccaneers' 44-32 loss to Bills says it all
Last week, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield came out hot in his postgame press conference, calling the team out for what he deemed was a lack of accountability. That came after a loss to the Patriots, and another loss to another AFC East contender had Baker taking aim to place blame as well.
This time around, he turned the criticism back onto himself.
Every level found a way to contribute to the loss in Buffalo, but it was a late interception by Baker that he called specific attention to. It came in the third quarter with the Bucs leading 26-24 and looking to start pulling away.
That didn't happen, as the turnover led to a James Cook touchdown one play later.
"It goes back to where the momentum swung in the game, and it was the interception on third down in our own territory," Baker said. "We played well for the most part, but in critical moments like that, you can't have it."
It was hardly the main thing that led to the loss, but it was another case of the Bucs getting in their own way at the worst possible times. Last week shouldn't have gone as sideways as it did on Tampa Bay, and once again it was poor playmaking and bad decisions that led to the team losing a winnable game.
"We've got to make the plays when they're there," Baker said. "We ran the ball well, but the pass game I just have to be better and lead those guys better when we need it. And we needed it today."
Baker related the game to the win over Seattle earlier in the year, which was another shootout that the Bucs ended up on the right side of. It was one where a Sam Darnold interception have Tampa Bay the chance to walk away with a win, and this time around it was bad special teams mistakes and two second half turnovers that gave the Bills the breathing room they needed.
That's what makes this midseason slump, like the ones we've witnessed the last two seasons, so much worse. Tampa Bay is beating itself more than opponents, which is the worst imaginable spot to be in for a team as talented as the Bucs are.
Baker pointed to this when asked about the daunting task of trying to end this slump next week on the road against the Rams.
“The toughness and fight [were] there, it just came down to not making enough plays. It's one of those things where you come out of this game really disappointed because guys fought hard," Baker said. "We have to be extremely critical, because we want to be a great team and a great offense. So we have to be very critical of ourselves, and there were definitely a lot more points on the board for us today."
He talked about sustaining drives, which is both true and also the sort of solution-oriented leadership that can navigate the Bucs out of this nasty stretch they're in right now. We've seen them do it before, and while it's annoying to once again be dealing with a slump, Baker sounds like he's not worried about what lies ahead.
If the flight attendant isn't panicking, then neither should the passengers. This has been yet another bumpy ride for the Bucs, but Baker's message to the team after Sunday's loss at least indicates that the season is still on track, even if it's not currently moving in the direction we all would like.
