Buffalo Bills rookie safety Jairus Byrd has a hard time explaining his ability to get his hands on the football.

Over three years at the University of Oregon, Byrd intercepted 17 passes, broke up 53 more, forced four fumbles and recovered two fumbles.

The Bills have not had any player intercept 17 passes in a three-year span in the last 15 seasons. Buffalo doesn’t care whether he can explain it, as long as he keeps doing it now that he’s in a Bills uniform.

“I think I just had a knack,” said Byrd at the team’s rookie minicamp this weekend. “I can’t really explain it. Sometimes the ball is just like a magnet. I take pride in it, and I look forward to doing it here.”

Byrd’s ball-hawking ability is the reason he was chosen in the second round of the NFL draft. It’s also the reason he is targeted to be the starting free safety for the team, once he picks up the Bills’ defensive scheme. Byrd played cornerback for Oregon. But the Bills actually have been thinking of him at safety for a long time.

Bills defensive coordinator Perry Fewell coached with Byrd’s father, Gil, on the St. Louis Rams’ staff in 2003 and 2004. Fewell went regularly to watch Byrd play in high school.

“When he played high school football he was a quarterback and he was a free safety,” Fewell said. “I told his dad at the time, he’s a natural free because he took great angles out of the post [the middle of the field], he could tackle, and he was able to put his hands on the football. When he went to Oregon, he went as a safety, but due to injuries and things they put him at corner.”

Gil Byrd now is a defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears. Fewell says a lot of knowledge has rubbed off on Jairus Byrd.

“When he was at St. Louis, he’d always work out with Aeneas Williams,” Fewell said. “His dad is a really good football player. So they kind of taught him the game. He absorbed a lot of information from two guys who played in the NFL and who understood the game. I think that’s why he’s able to get his hands on a lot of balls.”

Byrd knows he has a lot to learn about the safety position.

“The biggest part is just not getting lost and confused,” he said. “Corner is a little bit plain and simple. You’re zone. You’re man. At safety you have to know when you’re coming down, where your zone coverage is, where you’re fitting on run support. Things like that. You can be in the box, you can be back deep. It’s more of a mental challenge.”

“It felt good this weekend,” Byrd said. “I was getting my feet wet.”

Despite his connection to Fewell, Byrd said he had no indication he would be drafted by the Bills.

“Not at all, the only time I met with them was when I met with a whole bunch of teams at the combine,” he said.

Fewell said he intentionally backed off lobbying the Bills’ scouts for Byrd because he did not want to prematurely influence the team’s evaluation of him.

“I kind of kept silent through the whole deal because it was a situation where I was probably a little biased,” Fewell said. “As the scouting process continued, the organization said ‘This is our guy.’ So once that happened, then I could step in and talk about his character, work ethic and everything I knew about him. He’s been in our meeting room before [in St. Louis]. I had a lot of information I could share about him.”

Byrd said numerous teams talked to him before the draft about playing both positions — corner and safety. He said he had no qualms about moving to center field.

“I said yes,” Byrd said. “Whatever way I can help a team win games, I’m ready to play wherever.”

The Bills finished three days of practices with rookies and first-year free agent candidates with a morning practice Sunday.

The next time the players gather for on-field practices will be May 18, the date of the first voluntary, organized team activity workout.

Coach Dick Jauron said he liked the idea of working the rookies by themselves for a weekend before getting veterans involved. It helps the rookies get up to speed.

“When I’ve had the opportunity prior to being here, I generally brought the whole team into this minicamp,” Jauron said. “I tried it [a rookies-only camp] here two years ago and really liked the way it worked. The young guys get all of our coaches’ time, and there’s no distractions. Once the veteran gets around the rookie the first time, it’s not an easy situation for a rookie player. For the most part, he’s trying to meet the other rookies, he’s trying to stay away from the veterans, stay out of their way and not incur their wrath. And he’s trying to digest all the football information and make the team.”

There were 30 players involved on a tryout basis. Jauron said perhaps five to 10 could be signed or asked to return for organized team activity practices.