When the Buffalo Bills report to training camp next week at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, one of the NFL team’s preseason tasks will be deciding who’ll start at cornerback with Tre’Davious White.

The Bills have former Alabama standout Levi Wallace, who started there in the final seven games of the 2018 season as a rookie, and two free-agent signees -- E.J. Gaines and Kevin Johnson -- as candidates.

Wallace probably will be surprised if he doesn't win the job. Last season, as an undrafted rookie, he was surprised when he didn't make Buffalo's regular-season roster coming out of the preseason.

“I don’t think I had any anxiety about it,” Wallace told KOLD-TV in Tucson, Arizona, about his first NFL training camp. "I didn’t think I was going to get cut, honestly. I thought I was good enough.

"But they made the final decisions, and then they decided to bring me back on the practice squad, told me the steps I needed to take to be able to move up -- do some things off the field and on the field. Eventually, I got there."

Wallace spent the first 10 weeks of his rookie season on Buffalo's practice squad. But after the Bills called him up, Wallace started the remaining games and played 415 of Buffalo's 428 defensive snaps in those seven contests.

“I was just working while I was waiting,” Wallace said of his time on the practice squad. "Let me just focus on me because it’s so easy to drown yourself in that and have pity on yourself and ‘Why not me?’ and this and that.

"I think everything happens for a reason. I think Alabama taught me those lessons with walking on there and having to wait my turn -- but knowing that whenever I got that shot, I was going to make the most of it."

Wallace's competition for the cornerback job features a former first-round draft choice and a former Buffalo starter. The Houston Texans selected Johnson in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, but he's missed 29 games in the past three seasons. Gaines signed with the Cleveland Browns in free agency last season, but he played in only six games in 2018 and returned to Buffalo, which had a playoff team in 2017 with Gaines starting 11 games.

“They brought in two great guys in E.J. and Kevin,” Wallace said. "They both play corner phenomenally. We’re just learning off of each other. They ask me questions; I ask them questions.

"I think it's different in Buffalo. I think somebody told me -- and I'm not going to say who -- but someone said it's just different up there, how everyone loves on each other and it's a real team and you can just feel the chemistry out there. Everyone wants the best for each other."

A native of Tucson and an SEC player in college, Wallace said he made a quick adjustment to Buffalo's weather.

“It was cold, for sure,” said Wallace, whose home starts for Buffalo came on Nov. 25 and Dec. 9, 16 and 30. “I think I’d played one time in a cold game in high school, and it was against South Point and I had zero production in that game -- zero catches, zero tackles -- and that was like 50-something. And then to go down and play -- I think the last game was six degrees when we played Miami -- it’s definitely different, but at that point, I know the other team is way colder than I am, especially coming from a place like Miami, where it’s warm. Just having that advantage, take advantage of that and make it a benefit for us is really crucial. I don’t mind playing in the cold anymore, as long as it doesn’t get too cold.”

Wallace also has taken to the Bills' fans.

“The fans are unbelievable,” Wallace said. “Best fans I’ve ever played in front of. Alabama fans are great, but Buffalo, it’s a whole different level, the commitment they have. And that’s all that’s there -- hockey and football. The fans, their tailgating is crazy. The love and support we have out there is phenomenal.”

The Bills kick off their four-game preseason schedule on Aug. 8 against the Indianapolis Colts and their regular-season slate on Sept. 8 against the New York Jets.

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