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The Buffalo Bills will be without starting safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson when they return from their bye week to face the Baltimore Ravens on November 1. The NFL has suspended Gardner-Johnson for one game without pay due to an act of unsportsmanlike conduct, specifically for spitting on an opponent during a game. The suspension begins on Monday, October 26, and he will be eligible to return to the active roster on Monday, November 2. However, when that time comes, the Bills should seriously consider not welcoming him back.
It's time to deactivate his keycard at One Bills Drive. Simply put, his character issues and history of selfish behavior outweigh any potential he has on the field. "That's not what we're about," said Bills' head coach Joe Brady, referring to the spitting incident. If Brady truly means that and cares about upholding a championship standard in Orchard Park, Gardner-Johnson should have been gone as soon as the team landed at Buffalo Niagara International Airport early Monday morning. Unfortunately, it sounds like Brady is willing to give him another chance.
"CJ's a member of the Buffalo Bills. We brought him here for a reason. We know that, he knows that he has to play better. He knows he has to be better for this team," Brady said on Monday afternoon after the suspension was announced. But the real problem is that this isn't the first time Gardner-Johnson has acted selfishly and inappropriately.
During training camp, he decided to live stream on social media from the locker room. Not only was it tasteless, but it also crossed a boundary. The locker room should be treated as a sacred place where privacy is respected. After the Week 4 loss to the New England Patriots, he verbally took an unnecessary and classless shot at wide receiver Efton Chism, who had caught a key touchdown. In the Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Gardner-Johnson committed an unnecessary roughness penalty that resulted in an automatic first down on a 2nd-and-16 incompletion. He was also fined for a Week 2 hip-drop tackle on Detroit Lions' running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
Performance No Better Than Behavior
While he's already created multiple distractions, Gardner-Johnson has not performed sufficiently in his starting role. He has accounted for an 18.8 missed tackle percentage through six games. Prior to being ejected, Gardner-Johnson missed two tackles on Raiders' tight end Michael Mayer, who moved the chains as a result. Outside of a key interception against the Los Angeles Chargers, Gardner-Johnson has been far from impressive. He's allowed 13.8 yards per pass attempt when targeted.
Sure, he brings an edge, but he also wears out his welcome early and often. There's no overlooking the fact that Gardner-Johnson has been forced to change teams six times over five seasons. When playing up to his potential, he can help a defense in multiple ways, but other teams have determined that any on-field contributions aren't enough to outweigh his patented moronic behavior. Gardner-Johnson brings too much nonsense and too many distractions, especially for a team expected to win it all.
It's bad enough the Bills' defense is overmatched on a weekly basis. They don't need an average player taking attention away from the main goal. "He's a punk. That's really what he is," said former Bills' head coach Rex Ryan on ESPN. "The Buffalo Bills don't need you. Guess what? No team in the league needs you. It's an absolute honor to play in this league." Ryan is right.
As undermanned as they may be in the defensive backfield, the Bills don't need Gardner-Johnson, and they certainly don't need the risk he brings. The last thing Buffalo needs is their ticking time bomb of a safety to commit a selfish, boneheaded penalty in an elimination game come January. It's okay to admit that the Gardner-Johnson experiment didn't work. Now, move on before it's too late.