ORCHARD PARK — Bad went to worse for Keon Coleman Sunday. But he’s had four days to get everything in order.
Coleman was benched for the first series of the Buffalo Bills’ game against the New England Patriots for an unspecified disciplinary reason. Although offensive coordinator Joe Brady said Monday that for Coleman it’s about “being where he’s supposed to be, when he’s there, doing his job.”
It’s the second time Coleman’s been benched for disciplinary reasons during his short tenure with the Bills, missing the entire first quarter during Week 3 against the Jacksonville Jaguars last season.
And once Coleman finally got on the field and quarterback Josh Allen looked his way, Coleman fumbled inside Buffalo’s 10-yard line and it led to a Patriots field goal in what was eventually a 23-20 Bills loss.
The second-year receiver says he’s now on the same page as coach Sean McDermott and that it’s about “knowing where to be and being on top of it.”
“It’s a growing pain in a sense,” Coleman said. “It is frustrating because you know you’re better than that as a person. And you don’t like the things that it shows. Sometimes it might show that you don’t care and things like that and that’s not the case.”
Coleman did catch a 2-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass against the Patriots, but he acknowledged it won’t matter if he’s not doing what’s required of him from the coaching staff during the week.
“You looked like he was on his details this morning in terms of when I saw him and when I was around him,” McDermott said. “He’s going to grow and we’re going to continue to do things the right way and that’s how things work. That’s how you win, is when you do things the right way leading into games or whatever it is. You have to have the good run-up.”
Coleman’s offseason work was apparent when he returned for minicamps. He regularly made flashy plays during training camp, but also mixed in sporadic drops on easily catchable balls.
He started the season with a huge game against the Baltimore Ravens, catching eight passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. But Coleman has just 13 catches for 114 yards in the four games since.
Coleman isn’t the only receiver who has seen a decline in production. Joshua Palmer, who signed a $29 million contract with the Bills in free agency, had five catches for 61 yards in the opener and has seven grabs for 113 yards since.
But Palmer’s lack of production largely comes from opportunity. He played over 50% of the snaps in the first two games, but dipped during the next two, including playing 15 snaps against the New Orleans Saints in Week 4 as the Bills favored heavier personnel in a run-first approach.
Palmer was back over 50% against the Patriots, catching his only two targets for 36 yards.
“The biggest thing is staying patient,” Palmer said. “Also just the film room, meetings, the practice field, building those reps so that when they are called in the game, we’re not on different pages. … So it’s trusting Coach Brady, trusting his offense, of course, ultimately trusting Josh and I don’t have to question that.”
McDermott did acknowledge that for some players rhythm is important and it’s hard to get into the flow of the game without playing consistently. Only three Bills skill players — Coleman, James Cook and Khalil Shakir — are playing over 60% of the offensive snaps, while tight end Dawson Knox is the only other player over 50%.
Of the 48% Palmer plays, 71% of those are passing plays. But Palmer is still only playing 65.7% of the called passing plays and he’s down to 58% the last four games as Allen has attempted fewer than 30 passes in three of the last four games.
“Getting a rhythm and getting a lather and getting into the flow of the game is huge,” McDermott said. “… When you can get a player off to a good start, it certainly helps.”
Now the Bills face the Atlanta Falcons, who are No. 1 in total defense () and pass defense (135). The Falcons have the seventh-highest pressure rate in the NFL (38.7), but they also blitz heavily to get it as the only team blitzing more than 40% of the time.
That means their secondary has to hold up to get away with it when the rush isn’t generating sacks or throwaways. But after the Bills saw a heavy dose of man coverage from the Patriots, the Falcons are predominantly a zone team, playing just 23% of their snaps in zone coverage.
“They have the pass rushers, have some athletic (defensive backs), athletic safeties,” Palmer said. “They play a zone defense so it’s just trying to find those holes and pick them apart.”
NOTES: LB Matt Milano (pectoral) and DT T.J. Sanders (knee) did not practice Thursday. … TE Dalton Kincaid (oblique) wore a red non-contact jersey and was limited. … OT Dion Dawkins (thumb), S Damar Hamlin (pectoral), DT Ed Oliver (ankle), S Taylor Rapp (nose), WR Curtis Samuel (neck/ribs) and LB Dorian Williams (knee) were limited.