C.J. Gardner-Johnson Roasted Shedeur Sanders During Bills-Browns Joint Practice

There's no shortage of trash talk when teams meet for joint practices, and that was definitely the case when the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills got together on Thursday.

During the session, a Browns beat reporter, ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi, heard a Bills player loudly criticize a Cleveland quarterback's choices in the passing game.

"This s*** checkdown city!" the Bills player said, according to Oyefusi.

After that, Browns reporter Tom Withers revealed Bills defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson was yelling "checkdown king" in the direction of Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

"Bills S C.J. Gardner-Johnson not practicing but talking all kinds of smack," Wither reported. "Earlier he was yelling 'Check-down King' in the direction of Sanders on the sideline."

It isn't clear if these accounts were two separate instances of the Bills roasting Sanders. Nevertheless, it's funny.

Sanders has been competing for the starting quarterback job with Deshaun Watson all offseason long, but by all accounts it looks like Watson is going to win that battle.

"Yeah Deshaun Watson is starting Week 1," Browns reporter Brad Stainbrook wrote. "Hasn’t really been a competition since the first week when Watson was struggling."

Dec 21, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Deone Walker (96)v applies pressure on Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) during the second half at Huntington Bank Field | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With Sanders already trailing, throwing checkdowns at practice is not going to do much to help his cause.

It isn't clear if a lack of protection and the Bills applying pressure were the causes of the checkdowns from Browns signal-callers.

What's next for Bills?

Following their joint practice with Cleveland on Thursday, the Bills will turn their attention to preseason Week 2 against the Browns.

Earlier in the day, head coach Joe Brady wouldn't commit one way or the other to starters suiting up on Saturday afternoon. He noted that how much work the ones get in the joint practice with Cleveland would be the deciding factor.

"Ones should come out of today's practice with 40 or 50 reps," he said. "In a sense, it's as regular season as it can kind of get."

Buffalo and Cleveland will kick off from Huntington Bank Field at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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