New Bills S C.J. Gardner-Johnson on perception of being a bad teammate: "It is what it is"

Player mentions

Article text

Veteran safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson signed this week with the Bills. In his introductory press conference, he addressed one of the biggest issues hovering around him — a reputation for being a not-ideal teammate. Gardner-Johnson said he's not concerned about perceptions. "I look at it like this," Gardner-Johnson said, "if — and I don't throw shade. I don't throw — because locker rooms that I've been in, we’ve won . But the situation I got traded to, like, it's hard to go into something where you're not really familiar. Like, it's like spurts. . . . That's like going to McDonald's. You can eat McDonald's, but you don't know how to make the fries. So, it's like, I'm not saying you didn't know how to play football, it's just like, you have to gather that relationship while trying to get better while trying — and the season comes quick and all. Once the moves, the draft picks get in, it's on you." He was traded to Houston last year. After the deal was done, Gardner-Johnson said the Eagles shipped him out because they were " scared of a competitor ." The Texans abruptly cut him after an 0-3 start, without trying to trade him. After a short stint with the Ravens, he landed in Chicago. With the Bears, he had 10 regular-season appearances with seven starts. He also started the divisional-round playoff game against the Rams. "For me, I look at, like, every place I've been with, I won," Gardner-Johnson said. "If it was a locker room problem, I just result back to whatever came out. Why now? Like, why now? If I was a locker room problem, like why now? What was the news flashes when we were winning, going 14-3? When we were on the top of the mountain. . . . When I was catching six [interceptions], but where was those like — but why now? So I just take it with a grain of salt . . . it is what it is." Gardner-Johnson, 28, has played for the Saints, Eagles, Lions, Eagles again, Texans, Ravens, and Bears. He has appeared in 87 regular-season games with 71 starts, and he was a member of the Super Bowl LIX championship team in Philadelphia.