Mike Vrabel sent a shot at Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson in defense of one of his own Patriots players.
Gardner-Johnson took a swipe at second-year receiver Efton Chism III, dismissing his highlight-reel, game-winning catch against Buffalo on Sunday as a “practice squad player” who “made a hell of a catch.”
“For a guy that’s been on eight teams in four years? I guess he knows the drill,” Vrabel said Monday of Gardner-Johnson on WEEI, referencing the well-traveled defender’s seven teams in his eight-year NFL career, including time on the Bears’ and Ravens’ practice squads.
Buffalo marks Gardner-Johnson’s fifth team in the past two seasons.
Chism’s one-handed catch with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game gave New England a 29-26 win over the Bills, a massive victory over an AFC East rival.
It marked the second career touchdown for the undrafted second-year wideout out of Eastern Washington. Chism now has seven catches on 10 targets for 110 yards in 11 career games, all with the Patriots after he made the 53-man roster in 2025.
“We’re not going to get into no bulletin board material,” Gardner-Johnson said postgame.
“An elevated guy made a hell of a catch. Probably won’t hear from him again, respectfully. I say that with a lot of confidence, because it’s like, he didn’t put his confidence in his best player. If that were it, he would’ve threw it to [Romeo] Doubs or somebody. They won the game. Whatever. They ain’t do s–t better than us. We gotta play better.”
Count Vrabel and his Patriots team among those to disagree.
“Nobody works harder,” Vrabel said of Chism. “You love to see players take advantage of opportunities and help the team win.
With the comeback, Vrabel and the Patriots can hold their heads high this time around. They’re now 2-2, one game behind Buffalo.
The teams meet again in Week 13 in Foxborough.
