Getty Keon Coleman celebrates after a touchdown.
The Buffalo Bills won’t have Keon Coleman when they take on the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, and may have lost the rookie wide receiver for several more weeks to come.
Coleman was hurt near the end of Sunday’s win over the Miami Dolphins, suffering a wrist injury on a late hit from Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer. The team announced on Friday that Coleman had been ruled out for Sunday’s game, with head coach Sean McDermott saying there is a chance he will miss significantly more time beyond this week.
“It’s probably going to be more than this week,” McDermott said, via the team’s official website. “It’s probably going to be multiple weeks. I just don’t know how far into the future it’ll go.”
Bills Take Big Hit on Offense
Coleman had emerged as one of the team’s most reliable targets in the passing game, with the rookie making 22 catches for 417 yards with three touchdowns.
The Bills have taken some other recent hits to their wide receiving corps, with newcomer Amari Cooper missing last week’s win over the Dolphins with a wrist injury and Curtis Samuel also missing time. Veteran Mack Hollins has also been nursing a shoulder injury.
Cooper expressed some optimism about his ability to return, saying he has seen steady improvement.
“Just taking it day by day, getting better as the days go by,” Cooper said, via ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg.
The Bills have yet to see what a fully acclimated Cooper can do in the offense. He played just days after arriving in an Oct. 15 trade, making four receptions for 66 yards and one touchdown against the Tennessee Titans.
After the game, Bills quarterback Josh Allen shared praise for Cooper’s professionalism and ability to learn the team’s offensive concepts in just a few days.
“I think being seven years in the league now, just like understanding guys of [Cooper’s] caliber, they don’t need a lot,” Allen said. “They go out there, give him a clear mind, let him go play. That’s what he did out there a couple times, just finding zones, finding windows. He made a really good catch on that slant. But, again, just the professionalism that he has, the ability that he has, just trusting what I see with him, and things will turn out pretty good.”
Cooper played against the Seattle Seahawks the following week, making one catch for three yards.
Reinforcements Arrive in Buffalo
While the Bills have yet to make a decision on whether Coleman could be placed on injured reserve, they made a move to bring in some long-term help. The team announced on Friday that they signed practice squad wide receiver Jalen Virgil to the active 53-man roster. Virgil had already been elevated to the active roster twice this season.
As the team’s official website noted, Virgil made a name for himself in college due to his speed.
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty
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