Overview
- The NFL upheld C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s one-game, without-pay suspension in a decision announced Thursday by a jointly appointed hearing officer.
- Gardner-Johnson was ejected in the Bills’ Week 6 win after spitting toward Raiders players, an unsportsmanlike penalty that helped set up a tying field goal before halftime.
- Because Buffalo has a Week 7 bye, the suspension will sideline Gardner-Johnson for the Bills’ Week 8 home game against the Baltimore Ravens.
- Head coach Joe Brady said the team has addressed the matter internally and will not add further punishment, and the Bills have made roster moves to shore up secondary and special-teams depth.
- Teammate Sam Franklin Jr. faces a separate spitting suspension that he is appealing and denies, and media commentators have pressed the team to consider more severe steps given Gardner-Johnson’s prior conduct history.