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Keon Coleman is one of only a few healthy wide receivers for the Bills this weekend.
The Buffalo Bills are limping into their AFC Divisional Round playoffs against the Denver Broncos, but Keon Coleman is still confident he can make a difference.
The embattled second-year wide receiver spoke about his opportunity to show out amid a rash of wide-receiver injuries and help the Bills get back to the AFC Championship Game for the second straight year.
Coleman, the 6-4, 215-pound 33rd overall pick in the 2024 draft, has had an extremely uneven year — after his rookie season, which he called “straight garbage” before the 2025 season started.
Still, he had a huge, 36-yard reception in Buffalo’s 27-24 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the wild-card round Sunday, for the Bills’ first road playoff win since 1992.
But the sixth-seeded Bills will need to pull off a second straight road win to get back to the NFL’s final four against the top-seeded Broncos. They will play Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET in Denver.
Keon Coleman Is Embracing His Opportunity
Coleman’s second NFL season has been one to forget.
It started strong with an eight-catch, 112-yard, one-touchdown performance against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 but quickly fell off a cliff. Coleman has not posted more than four catches or 49 yards in any game and was a healthy scratch four times in a span of seven weeks late in the year.
Yet, the Bills receivers are dropping like flies. Tyrell Shavers and Gabe Davis each tore his ACL in the Bills’ win in Jacksonville, and Joshua Palmer was placed on season-ending injured reserve with knee and ankle injuries before the wild-card game.
Coleman and Shavers came into the organization together in 2024 as rookies, and Coleman spoke about his sadness for his friend’s injury.
“You don’t ever want to wish that on your worst enemy,” Coleman said of Shavers’ injury. “That’s just unfortunate for the type of season he’s been having — his first year on the active roster. He had a lot of things ahead of him.”
Still, Coleman is going to be called on to contribute in the postseason, and he is ready to put his awful year behind him.
“It’s still another football game at the end of the day, no matter what title they put on it,” Coleman said. “There’s plays that have got to be made, and I’m one of the guys that can go out and make some.
The Bills Will Likely Get Another Receiver Back For Denver
The Bills are likely to run a lot of 12 personnel, or even 13 personnel, with two or three tight ends in Denver. Buffalo already uses tight ends more than any other team, and Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox and Jackson Hawes should be ready to be called on, even more so than even Coleman.
Still, the news wasn’t all bad for Buffalo receivers. Veteran Curtis Samuel’s 21-day window to return from injured reserve opened Tuesday, and he logged a full practice ahead of the Saturday game.
Samuel was limited to seven catches in just six games due to an elbow injury and was placed on injured reserve in October.
Samuel will likely join Coleman, Khalil Shakir and veteran Brandin Cooks as the only four wideouts available for the Bills in Denver.
Still, with Josh Allen and James Cook healthy, having as many bodies available to both catch and block is integral, and Coleman noted the receivers are going to be opening holes for the running game to make big plays.
“That’s the unique thing about our [wide receiver] room; everybody can do everything,” Coleman said when asked about blocking. “You won’t see much slide there.”
Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens
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