CJ Gardner-Johnson fires back at ‘ringless’ Baker Mayfield as their spat escalates

Baker Mayfield doesn’t “take any s–t,” but C.J. Gardner-Johnson won’t mince words either.

After the star Buccaneers quarterback got into some on-field jawing with the Texans safety, Mayfield told reporters on Wednesday, “We don’t take any s–t.”

Gardner-Johnson didn’t let that slide by.

“Boy this cute but still ringless,” Gardner-Johnson, who won a Super Bowl last season with the Eagles, wrote in a comment on Mayfield’s Instagram post that featured the quarterback getting in his face.

Gardner-Johnson is no stranger to smack-talk, trolling the Chiefs and star tight end Travis Kelce with vulgar Super Bowl messages, and then trashing the Eagles when they traded him to Houston.

On Monday night, Mayfield led the Buccaneers down the field for a late touchdown to take a 20-19 lead.

During a fourth-down play from the Bucs’ own 32, Mayfield scrambled up the middle for 15 yards, evading tacklers and exchanging some choice words with Gardner-Johnson before getting tackled.

At one point, Mayfield appeared to be injured on the play, but he instead stared down Gardner-Johnson rather than check if he was hurt.

Mayfield has had a stranglehold on the Buccaneers quarterback job since 2023 and had a career year in 2024 when he threw for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

He led the Buccaneers to a playoff berth last year but lost to the Commanders in the wild-card round, 23-20.

In that game, Mayfield made a similarly critical play with his legs when he ran for 18 yards on a third and 10 to set up a touchdown and take a 17-13 lead.

The 2-0 Buccaneers play host to the Jets on Sunday.