Week 4 of the NFL season brought a thriller in AFC East play between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots. The Bills fell to the Patriots 29-26 after New England scored a touchdown with under two minutes remaining. 

Following the loss, Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson made a pointed comment about the Patriots player who hauled in the game-winning catch.

That catch came on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. 

Gardner-Johnson’s postgame reaction quickly caught attention on social media. Now Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has entered the conversation.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson takes a shot at the Patriots after Week 4 loss

Gardner-Johnson wasn’t shy about sharing his feelings on the wideout Efton Chism, who beat Buffalo’s defense in the final minutes. He also took aim at how New England’s offense played for most of the afternoon:

“A (practice squad) guy made a helluva catch. Probably won’t happen to him again, respectfully,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I say that with a lot of confidence because it’s like he [Drake Maye] didn’t put his confidence in his best player. But they won the game, whatever. They ain’t do shit better than us. We gotta play better. And they can mark that. We’ll be back, see them again 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 thing is that Chism is not a practice squad player, instead a former undrafted free agent who made the Patriots 53-man roster. That detail made the comment an easy target for a response from Foxborough.

Mike Vrabel fires back at C.J. Gardner-Johnson

The morning after Gardner-Johnson’s comments, Vrabel answered with a strong statement of his own.

“For a guy that’s been on eight teams in fouryears, I mean, I guess he knows the drill,” Vrabel said, via The Greg Hill Show.

It’s a sharp response, and it sounds like a line Vrabel had ready to go for Gardner-Johnson. The veteran safety is in his first season with the Bills after spending the previous four seasons with four different teams. That stretch included stops with the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, and Detroit Lions. Additionally, Gardner-Johnson began his career with the New Orleans Saints.

Bills drop to 3-1 with a Week 13 rematch on deck

Gardner-Johnson finished with four tackles against New England. However, Buffalo’s defense as a whole wasn’t good enough in the waning seconds. That opened the door for the Patriots’ game-winning touchdown, which dropped the Bills to 3-1.

Still, this one stings for Buffalo because it came against a division rival. The Patriots now hold the early edge in the series. They also have plenty of bulletin board material heading into the second meeting.

This back-and-forth only makes the Week 13 matchup between the Bills and Patriots more intriguing. Gardner-Johnson told New England to bring the same energy, and Vrabel made it clear he isn’t backing down. These two teams certainly aren’t done with each other, and that rematch will be telling.