New Bills safety Gardner-Johnson not worried about perception

BUFFALO, N.Y. — New Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson said Friday that he’s not worried about perceptions of him as a teammate.

Gardner-Johnson’s signing with the Bills on a one-year deal this week marked the veteran safety’s third team since the Philadelphia Eagles traded him last offseason to the Houston Texans.

However, the safety only spent three games with the Texans before being surprisingly released. The trade proved not to work out, and there were apparent on-field issues that led to frustrations among teammates, as reported by ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime.

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said at the time that it had been his decision to move on from Gardner-Johnson, alluding to his fit being a problem.

“I know what’s best for my team,” Ryans said. “Coming from me, the head coach, it was the best for our team. That’s why I made the decision.”

The 2019 fourth-round pick by the New Orleans Saints then spent a week with the Baltimore Ravens before landing with the Chicago Bears, playing in 10 games and starting seven. The safety is known for his trash talk and has been punched by opposing receivers.

During his introductory press conference on Friday, Gardner-Johnson, a 2024 Super Bowl champion in Philadelphia, was asked if the perception of him out there about who he is as a teammate or what has taken place with different teams bothers him.

“No, because I look at it like this. And I don’t throw shade,” Gardner-Johnson said. “… Because locker rooms I’ve been in, we’ve won. The situation I got traded to [in Houston], it’s hard to go into something where you’re not really familiar. … That’s like going to McDonald’s. You eat McDonald’s, but you don’t know how to make the fries. So, it’s like, I’m not saying you didn’t know how to play football, it’s just like, you have to gather that relationship, while trying to get better … And the season comes quick … once the moves, the draft picks get in, it’s on you.

“So, for me, I look at every place I’ve been with we won. If it was a locker room problem, I just result back to whatever came out. Why now? … What was the news flashes when we were winning, going 14-3? When we were on the top of the mountain … When I was catching six [interceptions], but where was those, but why now? … It is what it is, because if that’s the case, certain places wouldn’t be how they are now, if that makes sense.”

The veteran will be part of a new defense in Buffalo under coordinator Jim Leonhard and Gardner-Johnson said that the Bills were familiar with his game due to multiple connections, and that they talked about his “off the field stuff.”

“Going up to Buffalo [for a visit on Thursday] and getting a formal meeting with everybody, introducing themselves face-to-face was something that hit it off,” Gardner-Johnson said.

ESPN’s Courtney Cronin contributed to this report.