Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman appears determined not to let the staggering comments of team owner Terry Pegula get the better of him.
In a car-crash press conference held by Pegula to explain why he fired Sean McDermott, he criticized the former head coach for drafting Coleman in 2024.
Coleman is two years through a four-year deal with the Bills and Pegula’s comments were in defense of Brandon Beane, who Pegula promoted from GM in the same move he made to fire McDermott.
Pegula interruped when Beane was asked about the team’s wide receivers, saying: ‘The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. I’m not saying Brandon wouldn’t have drafted him, but he wasn’t his next choice. That was Brandon being a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff, who felt strongly about the player.’
According to The Athletic, the 22-year-old Coleman ‘didn’t understand’ why Pegula made the comments that he did, but he found it easy enough to move on from them.
‘He was taken aback at first but he just went and worked out, getting ready for year three,’ a source close to the young wide receiver was quoted as saying.
Keon Coleman was ‘taken aback’ by comments made by his team owner about himÂ
Bills owner Terry Pegula criticized Sean McDermott for drafting Coleman back in 2024
Brandon Beane later tried to clairfy the situation around drafting the young wide receiverÂ
The report also says that Coleman found out about the remarks while on his way to visit Bills receiver Tyrell Shavers, who had just had knee surgery near Dallas.
Sensing the damage made by his boss, Beane tried to clarify the move to pick Coleman in 2024 later on in the press conference.
I made the pick,’ Beane said. ‘Terry’s point was that we might have had a different order of personnel versus coaching, and I went that way.
‘But ultimately, I’m not turning a pick for a player that I don’t think we can succeed with. So don’t misunderstand that. Keon Coleman… it’s up to us to work with him and develop him.Â
‘His issues have not been on the field. They’ve just been maturity things that he owns. I give him credit. He doesn’t make excuses, which I appreciate.’
Coleman finished with 38 catches for 404 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games this season but was dropped from the team for three games in 2025 due to issues with timekeeping.
At one stage, his teammate Dion Dawkins publicly called for Coleman to ‘grow up’.Â
Pegula’s comments criticizing the coaching staff for drafting Coleman looked all the more erratic given that he interviewed the current offensive coordinator, Joe Brady, over stepping up to become head coach later in the week.Â
The head coaching search also took a hit on Friday when Mike McDaniel surprisingly canceled his scheduled interview with the Bills about taking over as head coach.Â
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Revealed: Bills star Keon Coleman’s stunned response after owner Terry Pegula threw him under the bus