Keon Coleman makes Bills practice debut at rookie minicamp

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The Buffalo Bills’ new draft class hit the practice field for the first time this week – including the group’s headliner, wide receiver Keon Coleman.

The first of the club’s two second-round picks wore jersey No. 0 as he donned the Bills helmet, emotionally realizing he had made it to the NFL.

“A bunch of nerves. I called my brother. It’s exciting. The moment is minimized because the process is so long,” Coleman said after Friday’s practice. “I think once I grabbed the helmet and put it on, it brought me back to real life, like it was a reality now.”

The 6’3″ wideout from Florida State made a first impression when he arrived in Buffalo a few weeks ago after the draft with several viral moments from his press conference.

Now, with the selection process and all that behind him, it’s time to focus on football.

“All the other things that are cool and everything, but the bottom line is the bottom line: trying to get better on the football field, learning the playbook, making an impact on the team and trying to help win,” Coleman said. “That’s what I’m focused on, that’s what I really care about, so it’s great to get back to that.”

Coleman has been working with the coaching staff to speed up the learning process as he eases into the Bills’ offensive playbook, which he says is much different than what they ran at Florida State, but more similar to the offense Michigan State ran while Coleman played there. .

“I zoomed in last week and just broke it down into pieces, figured out the terminology and, in each piece, what they’re trying to do, what the reads are,” Coleman said. “It makes it very simple because there are only so many concepts you can execute. It’s just the terminology. Once you get that down, it’s going to be a lot, but you’ll be able to adjust .”

As Coleman looks to make an impact immediately as a rookie, he sought advice from one of the Bills’ all-time greats: Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Reed.

“I respect everything he’s done,” Coleman said, adding that he considers it a sign of respect and looks forward to leaning on Reed as a mentor.

That’s not a bad place to start.