Bills player had brutal trash talk for Shedeur Sanders

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Bills player had brutal trash talk for Shedeur Sanders

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated Aug 20, 2026 5:44 PM ET

Shedeur Sanders was clearly not impressing at least one member of the Buffalo Bills’ defense.

The Bills and Cleveland Browns held a joint practice on Thursday ahead of their preseason meeting on Saturday. Bills safety CJ Gardner-Johnson was not a participant, but he found a way to involve himself by trash-talking.

His best roast was directed at Sanders, whom he referred to as a “check-down king.”

Bills S C.J. Gardner-Johnson not practicing but talking all kinds of smack.
Earlier he was yelling "Check-down King" in the direction of Sanders on the sideline.
— Tom Withers (@twithersCLE) August 20, 2026

Sanders split first-team reps with Deshaun Watson, though by most accounts he did not deserve the trash talk.

Good third-down session for Shedeur Sanders.

First play, he draws the Bills offsides and then Isaiah Bond draws DPI on the free play. Next, he finds Malachi Corley for a big gain over the middle. pic.twitter.com/Y4yLMFbRWm
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) August 20, 2026

This is what Gardner-Johnson does. If anything, this is pretty tame coming from him. He has said things about other quarterbacks that are much more disrespectful than that.

Sanders and Watson are competing for the No. 1 job in camp. Watson is thought to have the edge, and the fact that Sanders has turned in some ugly plays during preseason so far is probably not great for him.

More must-reads: