During the Buffalo Bills' Week 6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson allowed his emotions to get the best of him. Following a penalty near the end of the first half, Gardner-Johnson got into a heated exchange with Brock Bowers and ended up spitting at him.
That led to his ejection from the game, leaving the Bills short on the back end of their struggling secondary. It was an inexcusable act from Gardner-Johnson, but he was still given a chance to explain himself following the game.
Somehow, he managed to make it seem even worse.
Gardner-Johnson started out his explanation fine, saying that he needs to be better. He admitted to hurting the team, while adding that he needs to control his emotions. Then, he started to go in the wrong direction by saying it was "nothing crazy."
"I gotta be a better player, gotta be a better vet. I let my emotions get the best of me, and I hurt my team. They brought me here to play in big games like this. So I gotta do better, control my emotions, nothing crazy," Gardner-Johnson said.
As if that wasn't bad enough, Gardner-Johnson refused to take ownership of his actions. He was asked point-blank if he spit at Bowers, but the veteran safety refused to answer, even saying it was "nothing egregious."
"I gotta just control my emotions. There was nothing to it; it's competitive. Like I said, heat of the moment. Everybody saw what was going on. It wasn't nothing egregious against nobody. Like I said, we just competed in the game. A call was made. A flag was made. We went to chirping. And I guess, you know, just being competitive. Like I said, nothing towards Brock and nothing towards the team."
Again, Gardner-Johnson was asked why he spit at him, and he continued to act as if this was a normal interaction, even saying, "There was nothing negative from the play.
"If you were watching the play, like I said, we were just arguing and talking. There was nothing negative."
Bills need to cut ties with C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Gardner-Johnson is flat-out wrong in his take. There was nothing about this act that was "just being competetive" and saying there was "nothing negative" after being ejected suggests he simply doesn't get it.
The act was selfish and the response was arguably worse.
It really isn't too hard. If you make a mistake, own up to it and do better. Gardner-Johnson is refusing to own up to his mistake and considering how many times he's been in the spotlight for bad decisions, that's incredibly alarming.
Buffalo is a team with championship aspirations but a lot of struggles on defense. They need to see more discipline on that side of the ball and allowing Gardner-Johnson to play for them would send the wrong message. Instead, head coach Joe Brady needs to take a stand and show the rest of the team that discipline and accountabilty matter by releasing Gardner-Johnson.
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