Tyrell Shavers returned to work this week for the Buffalo Bills as a member of the practice squad. Unless the NFL team signs the wide receiver to its 53-man active roster, Shavers can’t play again this season.

After playing 32 offensive snaps and catching one pass in two seasons on the Bills’ roster, there’s no guarantee Shavers will play in another NFL game.

But Shavers’ one reception went for a 69-yard touchdown in Buffalo’s 40-14 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday.

“My first touchdown and a win all in the same day, it’s not much to complain about,” Shavers said. “I’m blessed.”

According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Shavers got moving 20.95 mph after catching the football behind the line of scrimmage and motoring through the New York defense to the end zone. That made him the NFL’s fourth-fastest ball-carrier in the Week 17 games, ahead of former Alabama standouts Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, the Detroit Lions wide receiver and running back who placed sixth and seventh, respectively, on the league’s speed chart this week.

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“Before the game, I always told myself, if I touch the ball, I got to make a play,” Shavers said. “I got to make a play, so I had some guys come out and help me out with it – big guys to get some guys out of the way. But, man, it felt great.”

Shavers also played at Alabama, but he didn’t leave the Crimson Tide as a first-round draft pick, as Williams and Gibbs did.

In three seasons at Alabama, Shavers caught one pass before transferring to Mississippi State in 2020. He played at San Diego State for two seasons before signing with Buffalo as a rookie free agent in 2023.

Shavers stuck with the Bills on their practice squad, but he didn’t play last season.

After Sunday’s game, Buffalo coach Sean McDermott presented game balls to two former Alabama receivers who caught touchdown passes against the Jets – Amari Cooper for surpassing 10,000 career receiving yards during the contest and Shavers for his first touchdown.

“He’s been working his tail off,” McDermott told the team in the locker room before presenting the football to Shavers.

“It feels amazing, man,” Shavers said at his locker. “It’s been a long time coming. Coming on my second year, so just putting in a lot of work. It felt good to see a result come out of it, so that was amazing.”

Each NFL team can elevate two members of its practice squad for each game. But no practice-squad player can be elevated more than three times in a season.

Sunday’s game marked Shavers’ third elevation of 2024. He played 16 offensive snaps in a 23-20 loss to the Houston Texans on Oct. 6 and six in a 30-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 10.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.