Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson dismissed New England Patriots receiver Efton Chism III as a practice-squad player after Chism’s game-winning touchdown catch Sunday.
Chism has never spent a day on a practice squad, while Gardner-Johnson has, turning a postgame jab into a roster history correction.
“A (practice squad) guy made a helluva catch. Probably won’t happen to him again, respectfully,” Gardner-Johnson said, as quoted by Patriots reporter Doug Kyed.
“I say that with a lot of confidence because it’s like he didn’t put his confidence in his best player. … But they won the game, whatever. They ain’t do s— better than us. We gotta play better. And they can mark that. We’ll be back, see them again at the end of the year,” Gardner-Johnson continued. “They put up, what? 20-something points? They barely scored. They struggled all game.”
“The better team lost today. But we’ll come back,” the Bills safety said, according to NBC Sports Boston. “They wanted to give us the game. They didn’t have no confidence.”
Chism was on the active 53-man roster as No. 86, not among the Patriots’ elevations, according to Pats Pulpit‘s game-day roster.
Efton Chism III’s Touchdown Lifts New England Patriots
The Patriots won 29-26 at the new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, dropping Buffalo to 3-1 for its first loss of the season, its first in the new building and its first under coach Joe Brady, according to ESPN.
Chism finished with two catches for 42 yards and a touchdown on four targets, according to FootballDB‘s box score.
On third-and-5 from the Buffalo 23, just after the two-minute warning, Drake Maye rolled right against a Bills blitz and threw toward the end zone.
Chism, covered by Davison Igbinosun, caught the 23-yard pass one-handed with his right hand and kept control as he fell in, according to NBC Sports Boston‘s recap of the play.
Chism played at Eastern Washington, went undrafted in 2025 and signed with New England as a free agent. His 346 catches rank second in Eastern Washington history behind Cooper Kupp, according to Pats Pulpit.
Chism has never been on a practice squad, Kyed noted in a follow-up post. He opened 2026 on the 53-man roster, sat as a healthy scratch in Week 1 and has been active since, according to Patriots.com.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s Career Path to Buffalo Bills
Gardner-Johnson finished with four tackles, two of them solo, and one tackle for loss, with no interceptions, pass breakups or sacks, according to ESPN‘s game log.
He signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with Buffalo in March and is on the active roster, not the practice squad, according to RotoWire.
Born Dec. 20, 1997, in Cocoa, Florida, Gardner-Johnson played at Florida before the New Orleans Saints chose him in the fourth round, 105th overall, in 2019.
He led the NFL with six interceptions for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022 and won Super Bowl LIX with them after the 2024 season.
Houston released him Sept. 23, 2025, and the Baltimore Ravens signed him to their practice squad in early October, according to the Houston Chronicle.
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