Bills DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson calls Patriots’ Efton Chism III a "practice squad player"

Efton Chism III made one of the best catches of the NFL season Sunday, helping the New England Patriots rally to upset the division rival Buffalo Bills .

But Buffalo's C.J. Gardner-Johnson apparently wasn't impressed.

Chism's diving one-handed touchdown catch with 1:50 remaining proved to be the game-winning score in New England's 29-26 victory in Buffalo, but Gardner-Johnson dismissed the pivotal play as unlikely to ever happen again and called Chism a "practice squad player" who "made a hell of a catch."

"We're not going to get into any bulletin board material," Gardner-Johnson said. "An elevated guy made a hell of a catch -- probably won't hear from him again. ... A practice squad player made a hell of a play. That's all I'm going to tell you. You do it again, and he probably won't make it again."

Chism joined the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2025 and won a spot on New England's 53-man roster at the start of last season. He has appeared in 11 regular-season games in his career and has never been on the Patriots' practice squad.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, when informed of Gardner-Johnson's comments, fired back at the veteran defensive back, who is on his fifth NFL team in the last two years.

"For a guy that has been on eight teams in four years, I mean, I guess he knows the drill," Vrabel said Monday during an interview with Boston radio station WEEI.

Vrabel went on to praise Chism, who has seven catches -- including two touchdowns -- over his brief NFL career.

"Nobody works harder," Vrabel told WEEI. "You love to see players take advantage of opportunities and help the team win.

"He is very well respected. He practices. He is on the show team. He takes a million reps. Nobody logs more miles or yards or whatever we track than [Chism]."

Gardner-Johnson also commented Sunday on New England's overall performance, saying the Patriots "didn't do s--- better than us."

"They won the game, whatever," he said. "They didn't do s---. They didn't do s--- better than us. We've got to play better.

"And they can mark that. We'll be back to see them at the end of the year, so they better have that same energy. They put up what, 20-something points? They barely scored. They struggled all game."

The Bills (3-1) play Chism and the Patriots (2-2) again in Week 13 in New England.

_Originally reported by [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/50109126/cj-gardner-johnson-efton-chism-iii-practice-squad-player-made-helluva-catch)._