Sean McDermott awards game ball to unlikely recipient not on Bills' roster

One of the Buffalo Bills' three celebratory game balls went to a practice squad player in Week 17.

Ralph Ventre | Dec 30, 2024

Dec 29, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers (80) runs with the ball after making a catch and scores a touchdown / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

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The moment was two years in the making for Buffalo Bills' practice squad wide receiver Tyrell Shavers.

Elevated to fill the WR5 spot in Week 17 against the New York Jets, Shavers made his first career catch and took it 69 yards to pay dirt. With the Bills holding a 33-0 lead on a 3rd-and-14 play early in the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky hit Shavers on a tunnel screen and the undrafted second-year pro was off to the races.

“I can get my first catch, first touchdown and a win all in the same day, man. It's not much to complain about, I'm blessed," said Shavers.

For his efforts, Shavers was awarded one of three game balls during head coach Sean McDermott's postgame locker room speech. Quarterback Josh Allen and wide receiver Amari Cooper, who also reached career milestones on Sunday, were the other two recipients.

"We got a young buck. Shavers has been working his tail off," said McDermott to the team after the 40-14 victory that clinched the AFC's No. 2 seed for the Bills.

Buffalo tabbed Shavers as a gameday elevation on two occasions prior to the December 29 win over the Jets. He logged a combined 22 offensive snaps in appearances against the Houston Texans (Week 5) and Indianapolis Colts (Week 10) but did not receive a target until the touchdown.

The 25-year-old Shavers is in his second season as a Bills' practice squad player. Buffalo would need to sign him to the active roster in order to deploy him in Week 18 as he has reached the limit of three gameday call-ups.

"Just putting in a lot of work, it felt good to see a result come out of it. That was amazing," said Shavers in a postgame interview shared by WGR 550 AM.

Dec 29, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers (80) runs with the ball after making a catch / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

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