Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson is taking the blame for the ejection that knocked him out of the Bills’ 33-30 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, telling reporters he let his emotions get the best of him, as reported by ClutchPoints.
Late in the second quarter, Gardner-Johnson and Raiders tight end Brock Bowers went back and forth between plays. Replays appeared to show Gardner-Johnson spitting toward Bowers, and officials tossed him with Buffalo up 13-10. The Bills had to close out a one-score game without one of their starting safeties.
Afterward, he did not dodge it. “I gotta be a better vet,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I let my emotions get above me, and I hurt my team.” He called the back-and-forth with Bowers “arguing and talking” and admitted, “That gesture isn’t warranted.”
The IAHHM Take
Trash talk is part of football. Spitting is not. That is the one line in sports almost nobody defends, on any field, at any level. So give CJGJ credit for one thing: he did not spin it. No “he said something first,” no blaming the refs. He owned it in plain words.
Still, owning it does not erase it. ClutchPoints notes no discipline had been announced yet, and the NFL could review the play for a fine or possible suspension. Head coach Joe Brady was clearly not happy about it either.
The bigger picture for Buffalo: the Bills are 5-1 and winning close games even when things go sideways. But a defense that loses its veteran safety to a heat-of-the-moment mistake in a tight game is a defense playing with fire. In January, that is how seasons end.
Your call: fine and move on, or should the league sit him a game?
More football: Kenneth Walker III is leading the NFL in rushing for the Chiefs and all IAHHM Sports.
Source: ClutchPoints
