Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s eventful start to the 2026 season added another chapter on Sunday.
Gardner-Johnson was ejected before halftime of the Bills’ Week 6 game against the Las Vegas Raiders for unsportsmanlike conduct. He appeared to be in a verbal dispute with several Raiders’ players before the flag, and the replay showed Gardner-Johnson spitting in the area of Raiders tight end Brock Bowers.
It’s the latest in a series of incidents for the veteran safety, who signed a one-year deal with Buffalo this year worth up to $6 million.
In Week 2, the NFL fined Gardner-Johnson $11,194 for a hip drop tackle on Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs on the first snap of the third quarter of Buffalo’s 41-31 win.
Gardner-Johnson was hit with another $11,194 fine following last Monday’s 37-34 overtime win over the Rams, this time for striking/kicking/kneeing on a play late in regulation.
Gardner-Johnson stirred things up again after Buffalo’s 29-26 loss to the Patriots in Week 4. Efton Chism III made a diving, one-handed touchdown catch to win the game, and Gardner-Johnson brushed it off afterward, calling Chism a “practice squad player” who “made a hell of a catch.”
Sunday’s ejection isn’t the first of Gardner-Johnson’s career, either.
In December 2024, while with the Eagles, he was disqualified against the Commanders after drawing his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of the game, then flashed two middle fingers at the crowd on his way to the tunnel.
The Bills entered Sunday 4-1, while the Raiders came in at 3-2.
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