Bills QB Josh Allen praises WR Keon Coleman's promising first training camp practice

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen spoke highly of rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman following the team's first training camp practice session.

Jul 24, 2024; Rochester, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman (0) runs a pass route during training camp at St. John Fisher University. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports / Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Training camp is perhaps an overlooked, but integral part of the NFL season, a multi-week series of practices that allow teams to gel and develop rapports both on and off the field. The Buffalo Bills make the most of the annual event by hosting it 75 minutes up Interstate 90 at Rochester’s St. John Fisher University, allowing the team’s members to bond in a college-like setting that ultimately manifests in on-field chemistry.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is already developing a rapport with one of his new teammates in rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman, putting their budding chemistry on display throughout the first day of the team’s 2024 training camp. The two connected for several impressive completions, with Allen praising the team’s second-round pick following Wednesday’s practice session.

“Big body,” Allen told reporters. “He moved well in some of the scramble drill stuff that we did. The refs called him out on one of the touchdown catches, but I was right there. We’ll see it on tape, I’m pretty sure he was in. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t. A guy that, again, he’s learning. I think today, it was some lightning stuff, quick stuff going at him, and he took it in stride. Understood the assignment that he had throughout practice. Just day by day, we’re trying to stack good days here.”

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Allen mentions a play that 13WHAM’s Dan Fetes referred to as the “play of the day,” a rep in which Coleman fought through contact to reel in a touchdown grab while falling to the ground. Initially ruled incomplete by a nearby ‘official,’ video footage showed that Coleman did, in fact, complete the reception.

Keon Coleman with the PLAY OF THE DAY [so far]

Was getting grabbed by the corner, falling down & still made the grab on the side of the end zone

‘The ref’ ruled it incomplete but the Bills team photographer showed us Coleman DID complete the catch & got his feet in#BillsMafia

— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) July 24, 2024

Perhaps the most encouraging element of Allen’s comments (besides the fact that Coleman is taking his responsibilities in stride) is his praise of the rookie’s movement during scramble drills. Allen is objectively one of the league’s most dynamic and, thus, chaotic quarterbacks—he’s not opposed to running around the backfield and creating time before bombing the ball 60 yards down the field to a wide-open receiver. His weapons, thus, need to remain alert and actively look to make themselves available for Allen while he’s scrambling; the fact that Coleman is already doing so is quite promising.

Allen and Coleman will look to further develop their chemistry throughout the rest of camp, something that will be paramount to Buffalo’s aerial success in the 2024 season. The Bills parted ways with Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis in the spring, leaving 152 targets and nearly 2,000 receiving yards vacated from a year ago. As the team’s presumptive X wide receiver, Coleman is expected to account for a significant portion of that production.

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