Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson has lost his appeal, and his one-game suspension for spitting stands. ESPN reported that hearing officer Jordy Nelson upheld the penalty, which stems from an incident involving Las Vegas Raiders players in Sunday's game. NFL Trade Rumors, citing Michael Signora, added that Nelson was jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFLPA to rule on the appeal. The r/nfl post credits Adam Schefter with the news.
The feed summaries differ slightly on the details. ESPN and Buffalo Rumblings describe the offense as spitting at or toward Raiders players in the Week 6 game. NFL Trade Rumors says he was suspended for spitting "towards" Raiders players. None of the excerpts we have describes the play itself or says whether a Raider was hit. NFL Trade Rumors says the suspension "will begin" at some point, but its excerpt cuts off before saying when. Buffalo Rumblings' Chris Trapasso wrote that, given Gardner-Johnson's on-field history of instigation and a past in-game ejection, upholding the suspension is not majorly surprising. That history comes from Trapasso, not from our data.
The game in question was a 33-30 Bills win at Las Vegas on Oct. 18. Gardner-Johnson's box score from it is quiet: one solo tackle, no passes defensed, no sacks. For the season he has 26 total tackles and no sacks across six games. His most productive game was the Week 3 win over the Chargers, when he had five tackles, two passes defensed and a 41-yard interception. Against the Rams on Oct. 12 he had seven tackles.
The Bills are 5-1 and first in the AFC East, with a two-game winning streak. That run followed a 29-26 home loss to New England on Oct. 4, and it includes a 37-34 win at the Rams. Buffalo's last two games were decided by a combined four points, so a missed game in the secondary is not a small thing. Our data lists their next game as Sunday, Nov. 1 against the Baltimore Ravens. The sources do not say which game he will miss, so we are not assuming it is that one.
The Raiders are 3-3 and have lost three straight, to Buffalo, New England (45-17) and Kansas City (30-27). They play the Rams on Sunday, Oct. 25.
| TOT | SACKS |
|---|---|
| 26 | 0 |
The appeal is over, so the open question is how Buffalo covers the safety spot. Nothing we have from the outlets says who will replace him.
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