The Bills hammered out a second player contract before Wednesday was done. Hours after signing first-round pick Eric Wood, the club followed up by signing second-round pick Jairus Byrd. Unlike Wood, however, Byrd will not be taking the field with his teammates right away.
Byrd was placed on the Active Non-Football Injury list. He still counts toward the active roster, but will not be participating in practice right away.
The Oregon product missed all of the team's spring workouts due to his school's late final exam schedule. It forced Byrd to miss valuable time on the field, especially since he'll be transitioning from cornerback in college to free safety with Buffalo.
But in mid-June Byrd spent a couple of weeks at One Bills Drive studying up on Perry Fewell's defensive scheme with defensive backs coach George Catavolos.
"Coach did a great job of just explaining things and making it easy and showing me what I need to do," Byrd told Buffalobills.com. "Of course there's always a learning curve as a young guy coming in, but I'm just trying to take it in stride. Now I know everything so it's about self-study and repetition."
Even though Byrd missed time in the spring and will miss some more practice time when he reports to camp Thursday, he remains resolute that he'll be able to adapt to the pro game.
"It will be a process," he said. "But once I get it the instincts can take over."
To make room for Byrd on the roster, the Bills also placed wide receiver P.K. Sam on the waived/injured list.
