A receiver circuit includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a decision feedback equalizer (DFE), a slicer, and a timing error detector (TED). The DFE is coupled to the ADC, and includes a first tap and a second tap. The slicer is coupled to the DFE. The TED is coupled to the slicer. The TED is configured to initialize timing of a sampling clock provided to the ADC while initializing the second tap of the DFE and holding the first tap of the DFE at a constant value.