Mike Vrabel responds to C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s comments with a jab of his own

The New England Patriots stunned the Buffalo Bills on Sunday by walking into their shiny new stadium and escaping with a 29-26 victory. Drake Maye shut down all the noise surrounding him with excellent play, capped by a game-winning touchdown pass to Efton Chism III —a wideout few were familiar with before his late heroics.

Bills cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson raised some eyebrows with his postgame comments downplaying Chism’s spectacular grab.

“We not going to get into no bulletin board material,” Johnson said. “An elevated guy made a hell of a catch. Probably won’t hear from him again. Respectfully.”

“They didn’t do s— better than us,” Johnson added. “We’ve got to play better.”

Chism is not a practice squad player who had been elevated for the game. More importantly, he made the play to win the game so who really cares what his pedigree is?

CJ Gardner-Johnson on why #Bills lost:”Practice squad player made a helluva play… They didn’t do %$&# better than us. We gotta play better.” https://t.co/NJmINX4Djl

— Thad Brown (@thadbrown7) October 4, 2026

CJ Gardner-Johnson on why #Bills lost:”Practice squad player made a helluva play… They didn’t do %$&# better than us. We gotta play better.” https://t.co/NJmINX4Djl

— Thad Brown (@thadbrown7) October 4, 2026

Natrually, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel found a way to respond to those comments while appearing on the Greg Hill Show on Monday.

“For a guy that’s been on eight teams in four years,” he said. “I mean, I guess he knows the drill.”

#Patriots HC Mike Vrabel responds to #Bills DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson calling WR Efton Chism a practice-squad player:”For a guy that’s been on 8 teams in four years? I mean, I guess he knows the drill.” 💀(🎥 @TheGregHillShow) https://t.co/XYAGzBx2Xr

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 5, 2026

#Patriots HC Mike Vrabel responds to #Bills DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson calling WR Efton Chism a practice-squad player:”For a guy that’s been on 8 teams in four years? I mean, I guess he knows the drill.” 💀(🎥 @TheGregHillShow) https://t.co/XYAGzBx2Xr

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 5, 2026

Pro Football Talk has Gardner-Johnson on five different teams since 2022, though that does include two different stints in Philadelphia. So if you’re scoring this round of back-and-forth, well, are there ever any winners?

The return matchup between these two clubs in Foxborough should be appointment television. An entire gameplan by be built around Chism just to prove a point. And if things continue, it might also go a long way in deciding the winner of the AFC East.