The Houston Texans made a bold decision to move on not just from a starter, but one they acquired in a trade, when they parted company with C.J. Gardner-Johnson just three weeks into the 2025 regular season.
Less than a year later, and Gardner-Johnson–who has had plenty to say about his exit–is poised to square off against his former squad in Week 1 of the 2026 season.
Moreover, Gardner-Johnson has not exactly accepted the public explanation for the move.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson Puts Texans on Notice
GettyC.J. Gardner-Johnson is looking forward to facing the Texans.
Gardner-Johnson, now with the Buffalo Bills, is set to face the Texans in the regular-season opener at Reliant Stadium. The veteran is very much looking forward to the matchup against a team he felt did not handle him or the situation well enough.
“It’s a good team. Won’t say nothing on the front office and the staff, but the players [that] are there are good. All the bulls*** that came out, it was lies. But whatever. I just can’t wait to see them,” Gardner-Johnson told reporters on August 6, noting that he was “glad” the question was posed, that it had him “p***** now,” and that that was a “great thing.”
Gardner-Johnson asserted that the media still has not gotten a “confirmed real story from what really happened with the Texans, asking, “what did I really do?”
“They released me because I wasn’t jelling with the team, and I didn’t fit well. Well, why haven’t the coach spoke up about it?” Gardner-Johnson said. “After a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, they say I didn’t fit well. We was already starting 0-3, so how can it possibly be on one person?
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans took responsibility for the decision to cut ties.
Ryans did not specify his reasoning beyond doing what he felt was best for the Texans moving forward. They notably shuffled through safety options all season long.
In addition to missed assignments, Gardner-Johnson was said to have clashed with teammates.
He was reported as having called out players over their salaries and requested a trade, due to the deteriorating situation. Gardner-Johnson’s tenure began with an injury setback and never got back on track. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud did defend Gardner-Johnson amid those reports.
Gardner-Johnson has called out what he considers lies about the situation multiple times since, but these were his most pointed remarks yet.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson: Texans Were Not ‘Respectful’
GettyC.J. Gardner-Johnson took issue with how the Texans handled him.
Gardner-Johnson downplayed the emotions of the Texans matchup, a sentiment his previous comments belied. He then admitted to some hard feelings with Ryans and the coaching staff and the Texans’ front office led by general manager Nick Caserio.
Josh [Allen]’ll handle us, and the defense’ll handle us. We’ll do what we gotta do,” Gardner-Johnson said. “It’s a good team. I’m not putting nothing past them. It’s just the situation, how they handled me, and it just wasn’t respectful. So as a grown man, I feel like when you see me, you see me.”
Asked for clarity, Gardner-Johnson suggested his gripe was the lack of communication.
The 2024 Super Bowl champion also doubled down on the lack of respect he felt the Texans showed to him in the process.
“Really communicate [with] me better, and just, like I said, be adults about the business,” Gardner-Johnson said. “We here, grown men. We all got kids. A five-second phone call don’t justify nothing. And I feel like I need some respect, but I don’t care for it anymore.”
Gardner-Johnson claimed that he had an altercation with a friend of Caserio’s.
Gardner-Johnson said it was that, not the injury or his locker room antics–which he firmly denied ever happened–that doomed his tenure with the Texans before it ever really began.
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