Mike Vrabel didn’t let C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s comments slide.
A day after the Buffalo Bills safety brushed off Efton Chism III as a “practice squad player” who happened to make a big play, the New England Patriots head coach answered back during his weekly spot on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.”
Vrabel was asked about Gardner-Johnson’s remark, even though the Bills veteran was working off a false premise. Chism has been on New England’s 53-man roster the whole time, not the practice squad.
“For a guy that’s been on eight teams in four years?” Vrabel said. “I mean, I guess he knows the drill.”
Gardner-Johnson does know what that life looks like. He spent a week on the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad last season before being released.
Vrabel’s own jab wasn’t perfectly clean, either. Gardner-Johnson has actually played for seven teams across eight NFL seasons.
His career started with the New Orleans Saints, then took him to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he had two separate stints. He has also suited up for the Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears and Bills.
The Patriots coach’s response seemed to be fueled by more than just the roster label. Gardner-Johnson had downplayed Chism’s play and dismissed New England’s offensive output in blunt terms.
“A practice squad player made a hell of a play,” Gardner-Johnson said on Chism. “That’s all I’m going to tell you.
You throw it again he probably won’t make it again... There wasn’t no issue.
They didn’t do nothing crazy. They won the game.
Whatever, they didn’t do s--- better than us. We gotta play better, and they can mark that.
We’ll be back and see them again at the end of the year. So they better have that same energy.
They only put up, what? Twenty-something points?
They barely scored. They struggled all game.”
That assessment doesn’t exactly hold up against the numbers. New England came into Sunday having scored 29 offensive points on 30 possessions. Against Buffalo, the Patriots matched that total in a single game.
After Sunday, the edge between these two teams felt pretty obvious. The rivalry between Buffalo and New England still has plenty of bite.
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