What’s next for Keon Coleman, struggling Bills linebackers and matchup vs. Texans
Plus, what T.J. Sanders' usage could mean for his development.
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Coleman was suspended by the team for Sunday's win over the Buccaneers. Rich Storry / Getty Images
After claiming their most explosive victory of the season on Sunday, the Bills had no choice but to quickly turn their attention to Week 12. For the second time in 2025, the Bills have a Thursday night matchup staring them in the face, and this time, it’s a shortened week primetime game on the road.
In their Week 12 matchup against the Houston Texans, the Bills get the chance to put some pressure on the AFC East-leading New England Patriots, as the Bills trail by one-and-a-half games with seven games remaining.
With so little time to prepare, what has stood out around Orchard Park during their quick practice week? Here’s our Week 12 Bills notebook.
Now what for Keon Coleman?
The Bills enjoyed their first big breakout passing performance of the 2025 season and made some notable changes throughout the week. However, one change they didn’t intend to make was benching second-year wide receiver Keon Coleman. Coleman showed up late to a team meeting on Friday and was a healthy scratch for the game — the third time that the Bills have given him a team-imposed game day suspension. The timing of Coleman being off the field, amid a lack of production all season, and the Bills’ terrific showing through the air certainly doesn’t help his case. So what’s next between the two sides?Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott wasn’t quick to shower Coleman with praise for what has transpired since, nor did he bury the second-year player. Above all else, McDermott seems to be looking for actions over words.
“I mean, right now, let’s call it a day and a half since game day. So, I’m aware of how he handled it publicly, and I appreciate that and respect that,” McDermott said of Coleman speaking with reporters after Sunday’s game. “And now it’s, again, one day at a time and earning the trust and respect of the teammates, and that takes time. But each day that goes by, you check them off as wins. The trust builds. So that’s the important piece of it.”
Considering Coleman was likely to play on Sunday, it’s likely that he’s going to make his on-field return regardless. However, several injuries and question marks at the wide receiver position are almost forcing the team’s hand. The Bills have seven receivers on the active roster, eight if you count practice squad receiver Gabe Davis, and three of them missed practice time this week. Newly-signed Mecole Hardman didn’t participate this week due to a calf injury, while Curtis Samuel is dealing with both elbow and neck injuries and also did not practice on Monday or Tuesday. Additionally, slot receiver Khalil Shakir missed both Monday and Tuesday due to personal reasons. It, at the very least, puts all three in jeopardy of not playing. But really, it’s the first two that would impact Coleman the most, as Shakir’s direct replacement would be Elijah Moore.
Coleman might be back in the game-day lineup by default, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if his role changes significantly. Before his benching, Coleman was on the field for nearly 71 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. Due to his play, the changing lineup, and now the discipline, he may wind up going from a priority for snaps to merely a rotational piece. The presence of Davis, who Josh Allen trusts implicitly, along with how well Tyrell Shavers played last week, may have a direct impact on Coleman’s overall play time on the boundary. Davis and Coleman play the same position, after all. It does create an opportunity for Coleman to work more at slot receiver and use Shakir, if he plays, a bit more creatively. However, to expect Coleman to walk back into a 71 percent role would not be a safe bet.
To be clear, the Bills are not giving up on Coleman. It looks bad right now for multiple reasons, but there is at least a modicum of untapped potential remaining for Coleman by altering his role, allowing his initial separation skills to shine on shorter area targets over the middle of the field. But much of his future remains on two distinct factors. The first is how they deploy him, and the second is how he responds to yet another self-inflicted setback.
The Bills need more from their LBs
Although Sunday carried the feel-good nature of the Bills’ passing offense finally looking alive, it was once again a day to forget for the team’s rushing defense. Although the team has had spots during the season in which they’ve shown flashes of being able to slow down the opponent’s run game, it’s an area that has let them down far too often. A lot of the problems in limiting those plays comes down to the middle of the defense. And while there are times that the defensive tackles get moved aside, their overall play has improved since the beginning of the season. The main problem area has most consistently been tied to the linebacker position. After practice on Tuesday, McDermott stood in the middle of the field in a huddle with defensive coordinator Bobby Babich, Terrel Bernard, Shaq Thompson and Joe Andreessen. At a minimum, it’s likely an ongoing discussion in Orchard Park because, at some point, enough is enough, and you can’t just expect things to get better if there aren’t overwhelming signs of improvement throughout games.It’s a difficult conversation to have because of how much meaning the starting duo of Terrel Bernard and Matt Milano has to the organization. Bernard is a two-time team captain and is well-respected throughout the building. Milano has been with the Bills since 2017 and was one of their best players for years during the prime of his career. However, both have struggled with their positioning and with their ability to shed blockers to make a tackle.
Bernard has had moments when it seemed like it clicked in, most notably against the Jets, Saints and Patriots earlier this season. However, since Bernard has returned from an ankle injury, his play has dipped considerably. Milano has been in and out of the lineup due to a pectoral injury, though when he’s been healthy enough to play, the results have been well below his lofty standards. Most years, the Bills would have no choice but to charge forward with that duo as their starters, but this season, they do at least have someone they can pivot to: Thompson. Before having to miss the last three games with a hamstring injury, Thompson had played like the team’s best linebacker — for Bernard at middle linebacker and Milano at outside linebacker when they had to miss some time. Thompson’s versatility gives them options if they ever did want to make a change.
With how much the run defense has struggled, all options should be on the table. It would be a slight surprise if the Bills chose to replace Bernard, given his leadership role on the team and the fact that they just signed him to a multi-year extension, though if he’s still working through his ankle injury and stays at his current level of play, it can’t be ruled out. Milano seems like the better bet if there was a change, as Bernard has been the better of the two and Thompson’s more natural position is at outside linebacker. Plus, Milano is a free agent at the end of the season and closer to the end of his career as he’ll be 32 next season. They could still have Milano work in as the third linebacker against heavier personnel formations.
It’s certainly a tricky situation to navigate, and one that McDermott and Babich are likely giving a ton of thought to, both from on-field and off-field perspectives. Even if they don’t make any lineup changes this week, the linebacker play against the run needs to improve — and quickly.
The Bills used T.J. Sanders at defensive end for the majority of his snaps against the Buccaneers.Kevin R. Wexler / Imagn Images
T.J. Sanders: Toeing the line between current needs vs. development
The Bills brought back 2025 second-round pick and defensive tackle T.J. Sanders from Injured Reserve last weekend and immediately used him on the field. Despite the delineation of his position and having practiced there all summer and fall, the Bills elected to use Sanders at defensive end for the vast majority of his snaps against the Buccaneers. The team likely did so because they suffered long-term injuries to defensive ends Michael Hoecht and Landon Jackson, while also not wanting to put pass-rush specialist and special-teams contributor Javon Solomon in there on rushing downs. Sanders was the more trustworthy asset to contain the edge. Given the nature of the short week, it wouldn’t be a surprise if that role switch continued for Sanders against the Texans, but it calls something else into question.With the Bills so injured at defensive tackle, and drafting him to be a potential long-term solution as an interior pass rusher, they are bringing on a short-term versus long-term debate. On one hand, playing Sanders at defensive end can help increase his versatility and make him more functional moving forward. On the other hand, they are withholding reps from him at his natural position as a short-term solution, and potentially delaying his growth and progress in the role that they drafted him to play.
There isn’t an easy answer when a team is in it like this one, but at least for last weekend and potentially this week, the Bills are prioritizing the here and now. This solution may not be for long, as the Bills signed veteran defensive end Morgan Fox to the practice squad last week. With only a week in the building, it may be too much, too soon for him, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were targeting the Steelers game after their mini-bye this weekend.
Odds and ends from the All-22
With the shortened week and the team already turning their attention to their Week 12 opponent, the Buccaneers game is in the rearview mirror. But some things stood out from the film that I wanted to quickly highlight.• CB Christian Benford was simply outstanding and might have had his best game of the year. He was in total control during his man coverage opportunities and played his zone coverages well, too. On top of that, he mostly stuck with the Bucs’ top receiver, Emeka Egbuka, for much of the game. Benford started the year strong and hit some low points in Weeks 5 and 6, but it appears he’s back to his early-season form.
• The stats might not have been there for wide receiver Khalil Shakir, but how offensive coordinator Joe Brady used him compared to other weeks is encouraging for future successes. They still tried the Shakir quick screen, and even used that as a decoy at times, but overall his routes were pushing farther down the field than in most of the team’s other games. If Coleman does play and takes some time in the slot, it could open up Shakir to more intermediate targets than we’ve seen from him this season. It was an overall strong game from Brady that deserves credit for bucking some of his early-year tendencies.
Just to pass them along for the week in lieu of the usual weekly All-22 piece, here are the season-long grades from our weekly film study, with a minimum of 150 snaps needed for inclusion.
2025 Bills season grades through Week 11
Bills projected practice squad elevations: WR Gabe Davis, TE Keleki Latu
Bills projected inactives vs. Texans**: WR Elijah Moore, WR Curtis Samuel, WR Mecole Hardman, TE Dalton Kincaid, OT Chase Lundt, DT Phidarian Mathis, CB Ja’Marcus Ingram
(**Subject to change following Wednesday’s practice report)
Prediction: Bills 23, Texans 13
For the second time this season, the Bills face a game in which their opponent will use its backup quarterback, as Houston starter C.J. Stroud was ruled out for the game on Tuesday. Although the Texans have one of the best defenses in the league, this seems like a potential get-right spot for the Bills’ defense against a Texans offense that has struggled all season, even with Stroud in the lineup. Their offensive line and running game have had difficulties all year, giving the Bills the potential to force backup Davis Mills into throwing the ball more than the Texans want him to, which could lead to turnovers for the Bills’ increasingly opportunistic secondary.It likely won’t be as easy on offense for the Bills, and they might need to settle for more field goals than touchdowns against Houston’s excellent pass rush and secondary. Ultimately, there is enough working in the Bills’ favor on both sides of the ball to head down to Houston and come away with the victory.
