Patriots’ Mike Vrabel fires back at Bills’ C.J. Gardner-Johnson for jab at Efton Chism III

The New England Patriots upset the Buffalo Bills in a key early-season divisional showdown on Sunday and got over the top in the close battle with help from an unlikely source. Wide receiver Efton Chism III secured the game-winning touchdown in the Patriots' 29-26 victory on the biggest play of his young career: A diving, one-handed catch in the end zone with 1:50 to play.

Bills cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson brushed off the highlight reception as a fluke. He called Chism a "practice squad player" and said that if the teams were to run that play over again, the wide receiver would not be able to replicate his stellar catch. It should be noted that Chism has been on the Patriots' 53-man roster since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2025.

"We're not going to get into no bulletin board material," Gardner-Johnson said postgame before promptly giving the Patriots plenty of bulletin board material. "An elevated guy made a hell of a catch. Probably won't hear from him again, respectfully. I say that with a lot of confidence, because it's like, he didn't put his confidence in his best player. If that was it, he would've threw it to Doubs…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/