Brandon Beane on Keon Coleman: You feel a guy who has really matured

Published July 29, 2026 04:35 PM Bills receiver Keon Coleman became a lightning rod when team owner Terry Pegula referenced him during his January press conference just after firing former head coach Sean McDermott. But Coleman, who is entering his third season, has handled everything well, as he begins training camp. General Manager Brandon Beane was asked about Coleman in his press conference on Wednesday and said that Coleman as exhibited signs of turning over a new leaf.“If you know Keon through two years, right, and this is Year 3, if you know him the way I know him and the way a lot of his teammates know him, you feel a guy who’s really matured — like the light has come on, he understands some of the things he could’ve done better along the way,” Beane said. “I think back to when I was 21, 22, there’s things that I [feel like], gosh I probably should’ve done that a little bit better. So I like to remind everyone — was his first two years perfect? No. But, if you just talk to him and are around him, you feel a guy growing into his own, comfortable in his skin, and just like, I know that I can’t do the same things that I did the first two years and expect to have success on the field or in the locker room with my teammates.“And his teammates see it. He dropped the first ball today, and I saw like three guys come over and dap him up. Josh [Allen] comes right back to him the next play — a much harder play — and he makes it.” That play captured much of what Beane has liked about Coleman’s 2026 offseason.“I’m very proud of where Keon is,” Beane said. “He could’ve taken the negativity from the press conference thing, the season, the benchings — whatever has happened to him, he has had a positive outlook on things. And I think not only myself, I think everybody in this organization is excited.“He’s still got to go out there and do it. And nothing is given. But I think he’s done everything he could control up to this point.”Coleman, who turned 23 in May, caught 38 passes for 404 yards with four touchdowns in 13 games with six starts last year. He had 29 receptions for 556 yards with four TDs as a rookie in 2024.