The NFL has suspended Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson for one game after he spat toward Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers during Sunday's game.
The league announced the suspension Monday following the Bills’ 33-30 win, and said Gardner-Johnson can appeal.
It is due to begin on October 26, after the Bills' Week 7 bye.
Gardner-Johnson will be able to rejoin the active roster on November 2, once the team has played the Baltimore Ravens on November 1.
The league said he violated Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, related to "any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship."
The spitting incident came late in the first half of Sunday's game. Gardner-Johnson was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct and disqualified after spitting in the direction of Bowers and Raiders center Tyler Linderbaum.
The confrontation began after an incomplete pass from Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins to receiver Tre Tucker with 19 seconds left before halftime. Gardner-Johnson and Bowers were jawing at each other after the play.
Buffalo cornerback Davison Igbinosun was called for defensive holding on the same snap. Bowers had turned his back to return to the huddle when CBS cameras showed Gardner-Johnson spitting in the tight end's direction.
Referee Shawn Smith told a pool reporter after the game that umpire Tra Blake saw Gardner-Johnson spit toward Bowers.
Bowers was asked about the incident and said, "Just talking a little bit and then... I don't know."
One day after saying he let his emotions get the best of him, Gardner-Johnson issued an apology Monday.
"There is no excuse for my actions, and I take full accountability," Gardner-Johnson said in a post on Instagram. "No matter how emotional or intense the competition gets, I have to hold myself to a higher standard. To my opponent, I sincerely apologize. We compete hard between those lines, but respect should always remain at the forefront."
In the apology, he said he hopes to represent himself in a better light in the future.
"I love this game, I respect this game, and I will always protect the integrity of this game," he said. "My actions will speak louder than my words moving forward."
Gardner-Johnson, 28, has played for the New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Chicago Bears and the Bills across his career.
His regular-season record stands at 396 tackles, 21 interceptions, 57 passes defended and seven sacks in 93 games, 77 of them starts. He spent 2019-21 with the Saints, played for the Eagles in 2022 and 2024, the Lions in 2023, and the Texans and Bears in 2025.
The Saints selected him in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Florida. He won a Super Bowl with the Eagles in the 2024 season.
In 14 career playoff games, 11 of them starts, he has recorded 55 tackles and one interception.
On December 22, 2024, he was ejected after picking up two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the Eagles' 36-33 loss to the Washington Commanders.
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