Two years removed from being a first-round draft pick
Womens Samuel Girard Jersey , receiver Corey Coleman vows he's got plenty to prove with the Buffalo Bills after falling well short of expectations in Cleveland.
That's the message Coleman posted on his Instagram account along with a video of him showing off his new Bills No. 19 jersey. And it's something Coleman repeated following his first practice at Bills training camp Tuesday, two days after being acquired in a trade with the Browns.
"It feels good to be wanted," said Coleman, wearing a towel around his neck while a steady rain fell. "They have their trust in me. I really don't want to let them down."
The Bills are providing Coleman a fresh start after his two-year tenure in Cleveland was beset by injuries and dropped passes. As an indication of how far his stock has fallen, Buffalo gave up a 2020 seventh-round pick to acquire the 15th player selected in the 2016 draft.
"A lot of things don't work out the way you want it to work out," Coleman said.
"I've got much respect for my teammates, man, those guys in the locker room over there in Cleveland are top-notch guys. We have a great fan base in Cleveland, too," he added. "I'm going to leave it at that."
If only the Browns and their fans could do the same so easily.
Traded by first-year general manager John Dorsey, Coleman came to symbolize the overall dysfunction of the Browns' previous regime, which passed on drafting current Eagles starting quarterback Carson Wentz by trading down and selecting the Baylor receiver.
Injuries limited Coleman to playing 19 games, during which he caught 56 of the 131 passes thrown in his direction for 718 yards and five touchdowns. And he will forever be remembered in Cleveland for dropping a pass late in the fourth quarter in last season's finale at Pittsburgh that sealed the Browns' 0-16 finish.
"Right, it's easy to point the finger and stuff
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The Bills took what GM Brandon Beane called "a low-risk" gamble in a bid to address a need at a position that lacks experienced and proven talent behind starter Kelvin Benjamin. Coleman also has the opportunity to provide the Bills' retooled offense an element of downfield speed to keep opposing defenses from crowding the line to stop the run.
"Look, speed is dangerous," coach Sean McDermott said. "It opens up the defense a little bit for other things. So that element is important."
As for expectations, McDermott wants to provide Coleman time to learn the playbook and become comfortable with his new teammates and surroundings.
"Can't wait to watch him really just blossom into the player we believe he can become," McDermott said.
Coleman practiced on a limited basis Tuesday, and it's unclear whether he'll play in Buffalo's preseason opener against Carolina on Thursday.
He appreciates the amount of catching up he has ahead.
"It's difficult, you know, but we've got great resources here," Coleman said. "I'm going to work my tail off to come here, do everything I need to do."
NOTES: McDermott wasn't prepared to announce who will start at quarterback against the Panthers. Offseason free-agent addition AJ McCarron and returning backup Nathan Peterman have split time with the starters for the first two weeks of training camp, while rookie first-round pick Josh Allen continues to mostly work with the third-string offense. ... LB Trent Murphy, an offseason free-agent addition, isn't expected to play after missing the past week with a groin injury. McDermott expects Murphy to resume practicing next week.
HOUSTON — First things first: The Minnesota Timberwolves are not merely happy to be in the playoffs for the first time since 2004
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The circumstances certainly allude to a measure of complacency on behalf of the Timberwolves, who claimed a winner-take-all showdown with the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday to end the longest postseason drought in the league.
For their effort, which included surviving a lengthy span of the stretch run without All-Start guard Jimmy Butler, the Timberwolves earned a matchup against the top-seeded and heavily favored Houston Rockets, with their Western Conference first-round series set to commence Sunday at Toyota Center.
Given the long odds, and the fact that Minnesota hasn’t won a playoff series since the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals, is drawing Houston accomplishment enough?
Not particularly.
“We expect nothing but greatness from ourselves,” Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns said. “We didn’t wake up this morning like, ‘Hey, we’re going to go to Houston.’ We woke up saying we’re going to go to Houston and get the job done. We put pressure on ourselves because we want to be so great, we want to be the best team possible that we can be. I think we’re going to do fine.
“At the end of the day we don’t need anyone to tell us their opinions of how the series is going to go. We have confidence and we talk to each other. That’s all we need is each other in this moment.”
The Timberwolves will have to circle the wagons against an opponent that blitzed them four times during the regular season. The Rockets claimed the first three meetings by 18 points each and led by 25 in a 129-120 road victory March 18. Houston, the most prolific 3-point shooting team in the league by volume, hit 69 of 159 3s in those four games for a robust 43.4 percent.
How Minnesota handles the challenge that comes with defending the Rockets might align with its offensive approach. By relying on Towns, who paced the team in points (1
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“We’ve got the capability to play slower; we’ve got KAT and Jimmy and those guys who can post the ball and put guys in isolation situations,” Timberwolves guard Jeff Teague said. “Against that team they switch so much they kind of want you to post the ball so they can come and trap, so we’ve got to push the ball and try to get some easy scores. And we’re going to have to make some shots.”
Matching the Rockets offensively might be as sound a strategy as anything the Timberwolves can muster defensively. Houston not only made more 3-pointers (1,256) than any team in NBA history, the Rockets actually attempted more 3s (3,470) than shots from inside the arc (3,446).
Additionally, Rockets guards James Harden and Chris Paul ranked first and fourth, respectively
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The Timberwolves finished 23rd in defensive efficiency during the regular season, so any expectation that they might lock down the Rockets this series is foolhardy. The Rockets are well aware of their potency, and the potential to inflect damage by doing what they usually do.
“You go out there and compete, and go back to what you’ve been doing all year,” Harden said. “Staying together, having that positive mindset. Bad things are going to happen. Turnovers are going to happen, mistakes are going to happen but the sooner you can bounce back to that next play, the better off you’ll be.”
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