TAMPA, Fla. – Tyrell Shavers rested his case Saturday.
The Buffalo Bills’ wide receiver capped a strong summer with a highlight-reel 11-yard touchdown catch during the second quarter of their preseason finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium, a 23-19 exhibition win.
Now the question is, will it be enough?
The Bills have to set their initial 53-man roster by 4 p.m. Tuesday, and what general manager Brandon Beane will do at wide receiver remains a mystery. The top three at the position are set with Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Joshua Palmer – none of whom played in the Bills’ victory.
Bills Buccaneers Football (copy)
Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers hauled in this remarkable touchdown catch Saturday against the Buccaneers, helping Buffalo win its first game of the preseason. Chris O'Meara, Associated Press
Shavers has been firmly in the mix for a spot behind that top three. The Bills will keep likely keep either five or six receivers on the active roster, and injuries have caused very little separation amongst the group competing for those two or three jobs.
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Shavers’ one-handed catch came over Buccaneers cornerback Bryce Hall. It was initially ruled incomplete, but replay assistance determined Shavers secured the ball before tumbling out of bounds.
On the next kickoff, Shavers made the tackle on Tampa Bay returner Josh Williams. With special teams being a necessity for any wide receiver toward the bottom of the depth chart, it’s noteworthy that Shavers started the game on the kick coverage unit.
Shavers finished with a pair of catches for 24 yards, increasing his preseason total to six catches for 123 yards.
Here are some more observations from the final preseason game:
2. Bishop starts
The Bills held out every one of the projected starters on their unofficial depth chart, with the exception of one – safety Cole Bishop.
Bills coach Sean McDermott has said he needs to see more from Bishop, who missed a large portion of training camp because of a quadriceps injury. A 2024 second-round draft pick, Bishop also had a rough preseason game at Chicago last week.
Things went better Saturday against Tampa Bay. Bishop played the first quarter and was credited with a pair of tackles. More importantly, he appeared to consistently be in the right position, which was an issue against the Bears.
The rest of the Bills’ defensive starters included three rookies on the defensive line – edge rusher Landon Jackson and tackles Deone Walker and T.J. Sanders. Veteran edge rusher A.J. Epenesa also started, along with linebackers Joe Andreessen and Dorian Williams. The secondary consisted of Bishop and Damar Hamlin at safety and Dane Jackson, Dorian Strong and Daequan Hardy at cornerback.
3. Not in uniform
The following players were not in uniform Saturday night: Wide receivers Curtis Samuel, Shakir (ankle) and Grant DuBose (collarbone); cornerbacks Tre'Davious White, Christian Benford and Maxwell Hairston (knee); safety Jordan Hancock (shoulder); linebacker Keonta Jenkins (ankle); center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (calf); tackles Travis Clayton (concussion) and Tylan Grable (concussion); and edge rusher Joey Bosa.
Samuel missed the game because of an illness. General manager Brandon Beane told WIVB-TV before the game that White suffered a lower-leg injury Thursday during practice, but Beane did not reveal much else in terms of how much time the cornerback might miss.
4. Buechele goes the distance
The Bills sat their Mitch Trubisky and Mike White, the presumed top two backups to Josh Allen. That meant No. 4 quarterback Shane Buechele got the entire game. Buechele played a strong game, going 25 of 30 for 278 yards and one touchdown.
Buechele led a pair of impressive drives in the first half. The first was a 12-play, 80-yard drive on Buffalo’s opening possession in which the team faced just one third down. The second was a seven-play, 49-yard drive that took just 58 seconds and ended with a 37-yard field goal by Tyler Bass that brought the first half to a close with the Bills leading, 17-10. On that drive, Buechele showed off some running ability, gaining 20 yards on a pair of rushes. He was able to spike the ball with 1 second left on the clock after a 13-yard completion to Deon Cain, setting up Bass’ kick.
5. Frank Gore Jr. flashes
The Bills sat James Cook, Ray Davis and Ty Johnson, their top three running backs, and gave Gore the start. He had an impressive 21-yard gain on a reception on the Bills’ opening touchdown drive, which he finished with a 1-yard touchdown run. For the game, Gore had 10 carries for 32 yards and two catches for 29 yards.
Outside of a lost fumble against Chicago, Gore had a strong preseason. He’s unlikely to crack the 53-man roster because of the top three backs, but the Bills would do well to get Gore back on the practice squad. For that to happen, he’ll have to go unclaimed by 31 other teams at final cuts.
In addition to Buechele and Gore, the Bills’ other offensive starters were tight end Jackson Hawes, Shavers and fellow wide receivers Elijah Moore and K.J. Hamler. The offensive line was left tackle Chase Lundt, left guard Kendrick Green, center Dan Feeney, right guard Richard Gouraige and right tackle Ryan Van Demark.
6. Andreessen bounces back
In addition to Bishop, linebacker Joe Andreessen had a tough showing against the Bears. But like Bishop, Andreessen looked much better against the Buccaneers, leading the Bills with six tackles (five solo). As the top backup to middle linebacker Terrel Bernard, Andreessen seems to be in a good spot to make the 53-man roster for a second straight season, continuing a remarkable story for the Lancaster High School graduate.
7. Concerns on kick coverage
From start to finish, the Bills had a much better showing against the Buccaneers than they did against Chicago, a 38-0 loss that, even by preseason standards, was horrid.
But McDermott will surely focus on improving covering kicks and punts. The Buccaneers’ only punt return Saturday went for 22 yards, and Tampa Bay returned five kickoffs for a whopping 190 yards – an average of 38.0 yards per attempt. Obviously, the Bills won’t want to give up that kind of field position in the regular season.
8. Davidson steps in
With punter Brad Robbins dealing with an illness, the Bills had fourth-string tight end Zach Davidson serve as punter. That might seem unusual, but Davidson actually started his college career at Central Missouri solely as a punter, and in his college career had 137 punts for a 42.4-yard average.
Davidson’s first punt Saturday was a boomer, traveling 62 yards. He punted twice for 104 yards and placed one inside the Buccaneers' 20-yard line. Punting controversy, anyone? (Probably not.)
On offense, Davidson was involved in a dust-up with Buccaneers safety Shilo Sanders, who was ejected for throwing a punch at the Buffalo tight end.
9. Defensive back swap
The Bills made a roster move ahead of Saturday’s game, designating safety Wande Owens as waived/injured and signing defensive back Garnett Hollis Jr. Owens was injured during Thursday’s practice.
Hollis entered the NFL earlier this year as a rookie undrafted free agent signing by the Tennessee Titans. He also spent some time with the Green Bay Packers. He played his final college season at West Virginia after spending four years at Northwestern (2020-23). Hollis played in 39 career games in college, finishing with 124 tackles, 12 passes defensed and two interceptions.
10. Howard released
According to the NFL's transactions wire, the Bills released running back Jarveon Howard from their injured reserve list for "failure to disclose physical condition." Howard signed with the team Tuesday but wasn’t able to make it through one practice.
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