Coleman catches on with Big Blue
Corey Coleman’s 2015 receiving stats in his third and final college season at Baylor are hard to believe: 74 catches, 1,363 receiving yards, 18.4 yards per catch, and — wait for it — 20 touchdown receptions. Twenty TDs! Conversely, Coleman’s NFL career hasn’t even gotten off the ground since the Cleveland Browns selected him 15th overall in the first round of the 2016 draft.
But the Giants, who signed Coleman, 24, on Wednesday as a free agent to their practice squad, clearly are hoping to harness a special talent that still hasn’t found his place in the league.
Coleman did not address the media on his first day acclimating to his new locker room, and Pat Shurmur had already conducted his press conference by the time the news of Coleman’s signing broke. But a lot of his story already is wellknown.
In particular, after catching 56 passes for 718 yards and five TDs in 19 games through two seasons in Cleveland, Coleman chafed early this training camp at being low on the Browns’ depth chart.
As chronicled on HBO’s "Hard Knocks" this summer, new Browns offensive coordinator Todd Haley questioned Coleman’s effort on a practice route, told him he hadn’t earned the trust of his quarterbacks and called him easily distracted.
And so Coleman walked into head coach Hue Jackson’s office and asked: “Why am I running secondteam? This (inaudible) is crazy to me. If you don’t want me to play, why won’t ya’ll just trade me?”
Coleman’s failure to catch on in Cleveland was further criticized because his was one of the picks the Browns had acquired from the Eagles in a trade that gave Philly the No. 2 overall pick to select QB Carson Wentz in that draft.
GM John Dorsey and Jackson obliged on Aug. 5, though, trading Coleman to the Buffalo Bills for a 2020 seventh-round pick, and Coleman has been searching for a new home since.
The Bills cut him on Sept. 2. The New England Patriots added Coleman to both their active roster and practice squad before releasing him for good on Sept. 18. And then Coleman sought workouts before eventually trying out for Big Blue Tuesday and signing to the practice squad Wednesday.
In Cleveland, Coleman briefly worked with Browns receivers coach Adam Henry, the Giants’ former wide receivers coach who also spent time coaching Odell Beckham Jr. at LSU.
Shurmur, asked before Coleman’s signing about his plans for the third receiver position with Cody Latimer (hamstring) on injured reserve and Russell Shepard (neck) banged up, said:
“We brought in (ex-Broncos veteran) Bennie Fowler, so if Russell can’t go, we’ve got four at this point on the active roster (including Jawill Davis), so you can do the math there. Four for four. Those four guys.”
But Coleman could get a crack at the active roster soon if the Giants continue to like what they see. To make room for him on the practice squad, the Giants waived WR Kalif Raymond.
THE INJURY REPORT
LB Olivier Vernon (ribs), LT Nate Solder (neck) and WR Russell Shepard (neck) were limited Thursday. Vernon’s rib injury is a new one sustained in his season debut last week against the Eagles. TEs Evan Engram (knee) and Rhett Ellison (knee) were full participants. Both sat out the loss to Philly but are expected to play Monday night in Atlanta.