It was a pleasant sight for Buffalo Bills fans to see Keon Coleman get back into the lineup and back into the endzone against the Pittsburgh Steelers. November was a rocky month for the second-year receiver out of Florida State, as he was benched in Week 11 and subsequently didn’t play in the following Thursday night matchup.
Coleman only saw three targets in the win over Pittsburgh, catching two for nine yards total. Still, that modest stat line in his return is the beacon of hope that the Bills fans needed, showing the 22-year-old is headed in the right direction.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Bills fans should feel confident in Coleman’s return to the lineup, a team source telling him, “It's a professionalism thing -- but he's going to be OK. We need him.”
Fowler confirmed that Coleman had worked his way back for Week 12, but that he was held out because of the short week, not for further disciplinary reasons related to punctuality in the team building. He also confirmed that the Bills never considered cutting the 2024 second-round pick through the mid-November headache.
Keon Coleman positions himself for a bigger impact as the Buffalo Bills chase a playoff run
Coleman logged 33 snaps against the Steelers, fourth-most among Buffalo’s receiving corps. That’s the lowest snap total for him in a game he appeared in this season. The hope, obviously, is that he can grow back into a more consistent role down the stretch.
Certainly, after his Week 1 explosion against the Baltimore Ravens when he saw 11 targets, catching eight for 112 yards and a score, Bills fans expected Coleman to begin a breakout season in earnest. But it took him the next three weeks to see another 11 targets, and after that, he wasn’t a defined starter.
With five games remaining in the regular season and the postseason run to follow, there’s still plenty of time for Coleman to turn his rocky 2025 season into a net positive. He’s already caught more passes on fewer targets and matched his touchdown mark from his rookie season.
READ MORE: Bills' blueprint for a strong finish is starting to come into focus
Still, that points to the largest concern with Coleman, the lack of consistency in his performances. To be fair to Coleman, all of Buffalo’s receivers are struggling to get open for Josh Allen. The Bills have a top-10 passing offense, but without Dalton Kincaid in recent weeks and a true WR1, it’s clearly not the team’s strength as it once was.
That remains the case until Coleman starts playing like the guy we saw in Week 1 again. With the Cincinnati Bengals carrying the worst passing defense in the NFL, hopefully Coleman will get a few extra looks and take the opportunity to prove to Bills fans that they can have faith in him again.