C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s first training camp with the Bills already produced a moment that got attention, and not everyone was amused.
On Tuesday, the safety was live streaming on Twitch when head coach Joe Brady appeared and offered a reminder about where that kind of thing should and shouldn’t happen.
“I would say just be mindful. Like, probably not locker room, training room, you know what I mean?”
The stream ended there, but Gardner-Johnson later addressed the interaction from his dorm room and said that he was "never a distraction". That didn’t sit well with Sports Illustrated insider Alex Brasky, who took to social media with a blunt reaction.
He followed that up with this caption:
"Training camp hasn’t even started and C.J. Gardner-Johnson is already becoming a nuisance in the Bills locker room."
Brasky was even sharper in the video itself.
"Can't wait until the first sign of adversity this year. And this guy loves control. ...
Somehow, the Bills think they're the team that's gonna really rein in Gardner-Johnson, figure it out with him, get him under control. Good luck with that."
Gardner-Johnson’s reputation has long been tied to the idea that, while the talent is real, the baggage can be just as noticeable. Still, there’s one career detail that stands out: every team he has played at least one game for has avoided a losing record, and those teams have had only one playoff absence combined.
Gardner-Johnson pushed back on the “cancer in the locker room” label in an interview with The Athletic last month.
“One of the narratives is I’m a cancer in the locker room. That just came out when?
After Houston? Where was that after the Super Bowl loss?
Where was that after the Super Bowl win? When we do our homework and really think about it, where have I been a cancer?
My grandma always told me, ‘You need to be patient to be cocky.’ That’s just what it is.”
The Bills open their season against the Houston Texans on September 13. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
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