Mike Vrabel Fires Back at C.J. Gardner-Johnson's 'Practice Squad' Jab at Efton Chism

FOXBOROUGH — The play was too good to dismiss, so C.J. Gardner-Johnson dismissed the man who made it instead. And by the time Monday morning's radio hit rolled around, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had the receipts — and the punchline — ready.

Sunday night in Buffalo, with 1:50 left and the game hanging on third-and-5 from the Buffalo 23, Drake Maye went to Efton Chism on the right sideline. Chism, one-on-one with Bills rookie cornerback Davison Igbinosun, extended one arm and hauled in a spectacular 23-yard touchdown that gave New England the lead for good in a 29-26 win. It was the kind of catch that silences a stadium. Gardner-Johnson, for his part, chose not to stay silent.

The trash talk

'A practice squad player made a hell of a play. That's all I'm going to tell you,' Gardner-Johnson said after the game, per the Democrat and Chronicle. 'You throw it again he probably won't make it again. Simple.' He later referred to Chism as 'an elevated guy.'

It was the classic postgame shrug — the ball found the wrong guy, it won't happen again, nothing to see here. Except the facts wouldn't cooperate. Chism, an undrafted rookie in 2025, made the Patriots' 53-man roster that season and made it again this year. He has never been a practice-squad player. The line Gardner-Johnson drew to diminish him was, quite simply, invented. There's a particular kind of sting when a professional tries to put you in a box you were never in — especially after you just beat him, on the road, with the game on the line. Chism didn't need to say a word. His catch already said it, one arm outstretched on the right sideline, 1:50 on the clock. Our NFL Week 4 Sunday takeaways has the rest of a wild Sunday around the league.

Vrabel's one-liner

Asked about Gardner-Johnson's comments Monday morning on WEEI's 'The Greg Hill Show,' Vrabel didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. 'For a guy that's been on eight teams in four years?' the Patriots coach said. 'I mean, I guess he knows the drill.'

That's the whole thing, right there. One sentence, and the entire trash-talk session flipped on its head. Vrabel's reputation as a coach who goes to war for his players is the stuff of locker-room legend — the former linebacker who played the game with his hair on fire now coaches the same way, pads-up and personal. When someone takes a public swipe at one of his undrafted kids, Vrabel doesn't coach-speak his way around it. He reaches for the facts and lands the punch. Our NFL Week 5 preview looks ahead to what comes next around the league.

The journeyman's own history

Here's why Vrabel's line stung. Gardner-Johnson, who entered the NFL in 2019, has had eight team stops in eight seasons — including two separate stints with the Philadelphia Eagles. And 2025 alone was a tour: he started three games for the Houston Texans before being released, signed to the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad and was released a week later, then joined the Chicago Bears for the final 10 games, starting seven.

Read that middle part again. The man who called Efton Chism 'a practice squad player' was, himself, a practice-squad player — cut after seven days in Baltimore. He of all people should know exactly what the practice squad is, and exactly how wrong he was about the receiver standing on the other sideline in Buffalo.

What Monday morning really said

This is what coaches mean when they talk about defending their locker room. Chism didn't arrive with draft pedigree or a guaranteed contract — he made the 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie and earned it again this season. When an opposing defensive back tries to wave away the biggest catch of his career with a label that isn't even true, it's the head coach's job to set the record straight. Vrabel did it in one sentence, and in doing so, he told every player on his roster exactly where he stands.

It also pours gasoline on one of football's best rivalries. Patriots-Bills doesn't need manufactured drama — it has decades of the real thing. But a Monday-morning war of words between a head coach and a defensive back gives the rematch a storyline it didn't have before Sunday. Coaches and players never forget the one-liners. They show up on bulletin boards, in group chats, in the quiet of a film room all week. When these two teams see each other again, the 23-yarder will be mentioned, the quote will be mentioned, and Vrabel's answer will be mentioned right along with it. Gardner-Johnson said it won't happen again. Chism, Vrabel, and the rest of the Patriots will get their chance to answer. They already have, once — with a ball thrown to the right sideline, one arm extended, and 1:50 on the clock.