Bills’ Keon Coleman keeps his head up after being ripped by former All-Pro receiver Steve Smith in viral comments
Quite the response from Keon Coleman after catching a stray from Steve Smith Sr.
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman hasn’t quite lived up to the hype in his second season in the league. Despite a dominant Week 1 performance that saw Coleman haul in eight catches for 112 yards and a touchdown, he’s left much to be desired.
Former All-Pro wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. offered some harsh criticisms of Coleman on his podcast, which quickly spread like wildfire across social media.
“He ain’t the guy. Can’t get separation,” Smith said. “Can’t get off the jam. Doesn’t have it. [ . . . ] You can’t teach a dog how to bark. You either got it or you don’t.”
Coleman was fielding questions after practice when the topic of Smith’s verbal beatdown came up. The second-year receiver wasn’t biting, breaking his silence on the viral statement from Smith Sr.
“I don’t even really know what he said, that’s why I said no comment,” Coleman said. “I feel like I’m handling things pretty good, the ups and downs of it. The flows of just being a professional, so I feel pretty confident about how I handled that.”
Coleman hasn’t quite lived up to the hype yet
Heading into the season, offensive lineman Dion Dawkins said the league better get ready for Coleman, having fans excited about a potential breakout. After Week 1, it looked like that was going to be the case. Unfortunately, since then, Coleman has only been able to register 19 catches for 155 yards and one touchdown.
Coleman was asked about his performance as of late, and had plenty of love to give to running back James Cook. To be fair, it’s impossible not to give Cook his flowers for what he’s been able to accomplish heading into Week 9.
“It depends on week-to-week basis, depending on what the run game does,” Coleman mentioned. “We got guys like James Cook, back there taking 200 yards, you don’t really need to throw the ball at that point. Just goes like that, might be games like Baltimore where I get off, other games like last week Khalil gets the yards, that’s just how it flows, it’s football.”
One of the biggest questions is the passing offense and if there are struggles. Coleman was asked about the keys to unlocking the offense, and offered quite the response.
“I mean, if I knew that I would be the offensive coordinator, I would be a coach,” Coleman explained. “I just do my job, do my 1/11th, and then everybody else do their 1/11th and when the pass game really is needed for us to really do what we need to do, we’re going to capitalize, that’s all I gotta say.”
Coleman’s words reflect a player staying composed under fire, focused on the bigger picture, not the noise. With a crucial matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs ahead, his response suggests that the young receiver is tuning out the critics and keeping his eyes on the long game.
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