ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Skyler Bell walked out for his first practice as a Buffalo Bills wide receiver last week for rookie minicamp. One of the first people on the field, he went over to a pylon by the end zone and prayed before practice.
Why the pylon? It is the first thing he sees when he walks out and he "likes living in the end zone." Bell then looked around and took in the moment.
"I'm blessed to be here," Bell said. "It's a privilege to put on this uniform and be in the NFL. So, I just want to make the most of it and make people proud."
The practices were the first opportunity for the team's 10 draft picks, recent undrafted free agent additions and tryout players to show what they can do for the team's new coaching staff.
Bell showed some nerves on the field, struggling to cleanly secure the ball in a drill early in the minicamp.
During routes on air drills, a couple passes dropped through Bell's hands, or he had to juggle the ball on an extra step to come down with it. After one of the drops, he dropped his head back in frustration and then returned to the line for another go.
Some of the missed connections can be attributed to less experienced quarterbacks throwing the ball -- tryout players such as Brady Olson and Ta'Quan Roberson -- but the newness and gravity of the situation surely contributed.
After one of the drops, coach Joe Brady, who was observing the drill, walked next to Bell as he walked back for another go.
"[Brady] was just telling me just to be myself, man, and stop overthinking. That's all it is with me," Bell said. "I was just in my head a little bit, getting jitters and things like that. So, he was just telling me, 'Man, just be yourself, man. We want you here. You're here for a reason, so just keep doing you.'"
The fourth-round pick from the University of Connecticut had a smooth day once the team transitioned to 7-on-7 drills. He described it as getting in a flow at that point in the practice.
First look at Bills WR Skyler Bell at rookie minicamp on Friday.
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) May 8, 2026
He said that his first practice as a Bill was "surreal" and that he was nervous, but got in a flow once they got into 7-on-7 pic.twitter.com/lWreRzRIWc
The new head coach even gave Bell a little ribbing earlier in the day as the receiver accidentally wore his cleats up to the office.
"He was getting on me about that," Bell said, "but other than that, man, he's cool, man. I'm glad to be working with him."
Excitement surrounds Bell, the only wide receiver selected by the Bills in the draft. It is a position that the fanbase focuses on hoping offseason acquisitions such as Bell and veteran DJ Moore push the group forward.
Bell, 23, who attended his college graduation in the 48 hours after minicamp, was named a first-team All-American for a season in which he recorded 101 catches for 1,278 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2025. Brady acknowledged after the draft that he was a player the Bills didn't expect to get where they did.
"The versatility; you always talk about having guys that can play outside, play inside," Brady said after the draft. "... You see him make the contested catches down the field. You see him take a screen behind the line of scrimmage and do a lot of good things with it. I think he has a unique skill set."
Some other notable observations from rookie minicamp:
The Bills' highest draft pick, outside linebacker T.J. Parker (No. 35), acknowledged the surrealness of the moment, and even practiced getting into his stance before he even walked onto the field.
Fellow fourth-round pick linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr stood out. Coaches responded well to his performance during position drills. He also made a nice play in team drills, forcing the ball out of a tight end's hands.
A fun connection is offensive lineman Bruno Fina, who signed with the team as an undrafted free agent out of Duke and started his college career at UCLA. Fina is the son of former Bills offensive lineman John Fina. John played for the Bills for 10 seasons, including two Super Bowl teams. Bruno said that he chose to sign with Buffalo because of the opportunity from a depth chart perspective, giving him the best opportunity to see the field. He described it as a "random coincidence" that happened to be the same team his dad played for. Before going out for the first day of rookie minicamp, Bruno did speak to his dad, who gave him pretty simple advice, "Do the little things right. Go make that team."
The Bills are likely in the market for a kicker to add competition for Tyler Bass. Former Temple kicker Maddux Trujillo was not on the field for Friday's practice and was released Tuesday. President of football operations and general manager Brandon Beane said after the draft that the plan is to have competition at kicker and punter going into training camp.
