Entering Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Buffalo Bills’ Tyrell Shavers had seven receptions for 82 yards in nine games in the 2025 season. In the Bills’ 44-32 victory over the Bucs, the former Alabama wide receiver had four receptions for 90 yards and one touchdown.
“It’s so freaking cool,” Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen said. “The guy just continues to work extremely hard. He’s never once complained, working from practice squad to now making legit plays in the NFL.
“And then you turn around after he scores a touchdown, he’s on kickoff, he’s on punt return, he’s doing all these things. And it’s fun to watch. It’s inspiring. The opportunity for doing -- or what does (offensive coordinator) Joe (Brady) say? He says the reward for doing is the opportunity to do more. And I think that’s what he’s earned over the course of the season and his career.”
Shavers’ Sunday performance included his second NFL touchdown as he ran under a long throw from Allen in the end zone for a 43-yard score as the Bills took a 14-10 lead with 8:52 left in the first half.
“It’s amazing,” Shavers said in the locker room after the game. “Honestly, this what you work for. I knew the opportunity was going to come eventually this season. It’s just a matter of when, and for me, it’s just always staying ready so I didn’t have to get ready and that’s something that I was ready for.”
In two seasons at Alabama, Shavers caught one pass – a 20-yard reception in a 66-3 victory over Western Carolina on Nov. 23, 2019, one week after he ran 14 yards in a 38-7 victory over Mississippi State. Shavers also scored on a 2-yard return of a blocked punt in a 47-28 victory over Texas A&M on Oct. 12, 2019.
Shavers had nine receptions for Mississippi State in 2020, then 18 in 2021 for San Diego State after another transfer. In 2022, Shavers had 38 receptions for 643 yards and three touchdowns for SDSU.
Shavers joined Buffalo as an undrafted rookie in 2023 and spent that season on the Bills’ practice squad.
Shavers spent most of the 2024 season on the Buffalo practice squad, too. But he played in three games and took his only reception 69 yards for a touchdown in a 40-14 victory over the New York Jets on Dec. 29, 2024.
“It was very impressive,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said on Monday about Shavers’ performance. “This has been Shavers’ journey, though – right? -- when you look at it, and, I mean, last year, his journey was practice squad, then elevated for a game. You know, gets a little screen pass -- I believe it was last season -- takes it to the house. Comes back this year fighting for a roster spot again. Really blue-collar approach. You want me to block, I’ll block. You want me to catch a ball, I’ll catch a ball. No job too small. No job too big either. And that’s why he’s such a great teammate.
“So when he fits what we do and he goes out there and he performs in the passing game like he did -- I think one of those was a scramble play as well – so what it does is it builds trust when you are where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there. Or in a scramble situation, he knows how to operate where Josh can find him. That’s the level of detail we all have to have. So he’s a great example for us.”
In 2024, Shavers was on the field for 32 offensive snaps and 10 special-teams plays. In 2025, Shavers has 223 offensive snaps and 144 special-teams plays in 10 games. On Sunday, Shavers played more than half of Buffalo’s offensive snaps in a game for the first time in his career.
“I haven’t really done too much this season in terms of the pass game,” Shavers told SiriusXM NFL Radio after Sunday’s game. “But I’m in there in the run game, I’m helping the guys out and doing whatever I need to do, so whenever my number’s called in the pass game, I got to step up and do my job.
“That’s just what I did, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Playing time in the passing game opened for Shavers on Sunday because wide receiver Keon Coleman did not play after being benched for arriving late for a team meeting. But Shavers wants Coleman back on the field.
“Just making sure he’s good in the right mental space,” Shavers said of Coleman. “Things happen. I just want to make sure that he’s good and he’s ready to go because he’s not done. Keon is going to be back out there. He’s going to keep going. So just making sure that when he’s back up, he’s ready.”
Buffalo plays again at 7:15 p.m. CST Thursday, when the Bills face the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston. Prime Video will televise the game.
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