Almost four years after he made his only reception for Alabama, wide receiver Tyrell Shavers made his first catch in an NFL uniform on Saturday.

Buffalo quarterback Matt Barkley connected with Shavers on a 22-yard touchdown toss during the Bills’ 23-19 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in their preseason opener.

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“Nothing has ever beat it up to this point,” Shavers said of his first appearance as a pro. “It was fun. It was amazing, a blessing to me and something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life, especially scoring a touchdown.”

Buffalo signed Shavers in May as an undrafted rookie from San Diego State.

He had started his college career with three seasons at Alabama. After a redshirt year, Shavers played in every game in 2018, when the Crimson Tide won the SEC championship and the Orange Bowl before suffering its only loss of the season 44-16 to Clemson in the CFP national-championship game.

Shavers played in every game again in 2019, when he had his only reception for Alabama – a 20-yard catch in a 66-3 victory over Western Carolina on Nov. 23. He also scored a touchdown by returning a blocked punt 2 yards in the Tide’s 47-28 victory over Texas A&M on Oct. 12, 2019.

In 2020, Shavers caught nine passes in four games for Mississippi State before leaving for San Diego State. In his final season with the Aztecs, Shavers had 36 receptions for 643 yards and three touchdowns.

At 6-foot-6, Shavers turned some heads with his work in Buffalo’s training camp.

“It’s definitely a confident booster, honestly,” Shavers said. “That’s the No. 1 way to do is just stack good days, so it makes the game easier when you have good practices.”

But Shavers’ first pro game had a rough start. After his first three targets, Shavers didn’t have a catch, and one of the passes had gone off his hands into the hands of Colts cornerback Darius Rush. The rookie defensive back returned the interception 52 yards for a touchdown as Indianapolis took a 13-10 lead with 12:30 left in the third quarter.

But on the next series, Shavers saw that things were about to change.

“I knew that a linebacker on me, it was a mismatch,” Shavers said.

Coming out of the slot, Shavers ran past Segun Olubi, a former San Diego State teammate, and caught Barkley’s pass behind the defense to put Buffalo back in front with 6:11 remaining in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Shavers drew a 25-yard defensive pass interference penalty to move the football to the Colts 20-yard line and set up the Bills’ next touchdown, then had a 16-yard reception for a first down as Buffalo ran out the final 4:07 in its four-point victory.

Shavers still has his work cut out for him to make the Bills’ regular-season roster. On Buffalo’s first depth chart of the preseason, he was listed as a fourth-teamer, leaving at least eight wide receivers ahead of him.

The Bills have two preseason games remaining. Buffalo visits the Pittsburgh Steelers at 6:30 p.m. CDT Saturday and the Chicago Bears at 1 p.m. Aug 26.

“Just focused on doing my job,” Shavers said after Saturday’s game. “Taking it one play at a time. Not thinking too far into the future, so just taking one play at a time and doing what I need to do that play.”

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