CJ Gardner-Johnson Doubles Down on Foolish Comment After Bills' Loss to Patriots

It's unwarranted and unnecessary, and it looks even worse when it isn't backed by actions.

For someone who has essentially made only one noteworthy play in four weeks, Buffalo Bills' safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson should focus on his own performance rather than disrespecting the opponent without justification.

Following the Bills' mistake-filled Week 4 home loss to the New England Patriots, Gardner-Johnson chose to call out the little-known wide receiver that scored the game-winning touchdown.

With the Patriots facing a 3rd-and-5 from the Buffalo 23, Maye throw one up for Efton Chism, who made a spectacular one-handed catch in the end zone. Bills' second-round rookie cornerback Davison Igbinosun had solid coverage on the play, but it wasn't good enough to prevent the undrafted wide receiver from getting winning the rep.

Chism, who is in his second season with the Patriots, entered Sunday's game with only two prior receptions for -1 receiving yard this season.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson's foolish postgame comments

Instead of moving onto the Los Angeles Rams, who will host the Bills in Week 5, Gardner-Johnson decided to fire a verbal cheap shot at Chism and the Patriots.

"An elevated guy made a helluva catch. Probably won’t happen to him again, respectfully. I say that with a lot of confidence because it’s like he didn’t put his confidence in his best player," said Gardner-Johnson in a locker-room media scrum.

Erroneously labeling Chism as a practice squad elevation, Gardner-Johnson was seemingly attempting to discredit the Patriots' 29-26 win as flukey.

"They ain’t do [expletive] better than us. We gotta play better. And they can mark that. We’ll be back, see them again at the end of the year. So, they better have that same energy," said Gardner-Johnson.

Naturally, Gardner-Johnson prefaced his comments by stating his intention to avoid "any bulletin board material." Unfortunately, the well-traveled safety hasn't shown that ability yet as a pro.

With Buffalo being the fifth different team that Gardner-Johnson has played for over the past four seasons, the Super Bowl LIX champion has made a habit of wearing out his welcome. Back during the preseason, rookie head coach Joe Brady called him out for inappropriately live streaming from the locker room.

CJ Gardner-Johnson — Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (0) makes a catch for a touchdown against Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (22) during the first half at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, NY, on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Doubling down on Instagram

In case his postgame comments weren't clear enough, Gardner-Johnson decided to reaffirm his opinion on his Instagram story.

Posting a slide that shows a black screen with text overlaid, the outspoken defensive back said, "I love IGB OVER DUDE ANYDAY." He punctuated the post with "#isaidwhatisaid," and underlined the text for emphasis.

Rather than simply show support for his teammate Igbinosun, Gardner-Johnson included "dude" in a presumed reference to Chism.

Maybe Gardner-Johnson should pay more attention to his subpar performance thus far, especially when it comes to tackling against the run. Not only is he the starting safety for the NFL's 27th-ranked pass defense, Gardner-Johnson has an 18.4 individual missed tackle percentage through four games.

If Gardner-Johnson is still on the Bills' roster when they visit the Patriots in Week 13, he better be ready to walk the walk.

This won’t be an issue at all 🤦‍♂️ https://t.co/fVrd9vGhB4 pic.twitter.com/WG9wFqQgSX
— Greg Cover 1 🏈 (@GregTompsett) October 4, 2026

— Sign up for OnSI’s Free Buffalo Bills Newsletter —

Add us as a preferred source on Google