Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman was badly misquoted following his benching last Sunday.
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman was benched this past Sunday, marking the third time this season he has been punished for his conduct.
Coleman was late to another team meeting, and clearly, his constant tardiness is wearing thin on head coach Sean McDermott and the team.
The Bills have every reason to be frustrated with Coleman. If he can't do something as simple as show up on time, then why should Buffalo count on him to perform?
However, I do need to defend Coleman for one thing here: he was badly misquoted while recently speaking to reporters.
Earlier in the week, Coleman was peppered with questions about his benching and what lessons could be learned from it. The second-year pass-catcher didn't offer much other than to just say that he has to be better, but at one point, he was asked if there was a message not being received, to which he replied, "No, I wouldn't say that."
You can see it in the video below at around the 0:25 mark.
Well, media outlets have run with this and have made Coleman's response look a heck of a lot worse than it actually was by framing the question as, "Was the message received?"
That was clearly not what he was asked, and you can see how much worse his reply seems when the question is falsely posed that way.
This isn't an overall defense of Coleman. His behavior has been inexcusable. He is a professional, and the Bills were depending on him to be one of their top weapons this season.
But we also shouldn't be misquoting Coleman, either.
The Florida State product has caught 32 passes for 330 yards and three touchdowns in 2025. Last year, he snared 29 balls for 556 yards and four scores, averaging a hefty 19.2 yards per grab.
As you can see, Coleman's explosiveness has dipped tremendously this season, and his production in general has completely stagnated.
Buffalo is in dire need of a No. 1 receiver, and there just does not appear to be one on the roster right now. The Bills were hoping that Coleman would ultimately become that guy for them, but he is clearly a long way away from earning that title, if he ever does.
Buffalo is 7-3 on the year and will face the Houston Texans on Thursday night.