S · Buffalo Bills · week 6 vs Las Vegas Raiders · Sun Oct 18 · 4:25 PM ET
C.J. Gardner-Johnson
ROLE a starter
CLASS 2019 · R4 P105
EXP 7 seasons
AGE 25-28
DEPTH FS1
97%PLAYEXPECTED
As of week 6, C.J. Gardner-Johnson was an SAF for BUF, age 28.7, 7 seasons of experience, drafted in round 4. In 2026 through week 5 he was listed at depth rank 1 on his club's depth chart; he had played 5 games on 99% of snaps. Before 2026 he played 101 games (postseason included) over 7 seasons. His injury history held 10 episodes (concussion 2, foot 2, knee 2), 4 of them reaching OUT, 3 a repeat of an earlier site; the last was a concussion injury in 2025 week 20.
The full read
How our call moved this week
100500
97%97%97%97%97%97%97%97%97%97%97%97%
Fri 7:01 AM ETSun 12:29 PM ET
our call, P(plays)
97% EXPECTED → 97% EXPECTED
Every call we wrote for him this week, earliest first, as written.
In short
C.J. Gardner-Johnson is a starter at free safety for BUF — 100% of the snaps in his best week of 6. He has an ankle injury. This week he practised in full every day the report covers. His team has not listed him on the final report. We say he plays — 97%, in a band that plays 96% of the time. We have said PLAY since 57 hours before kickoff.
The reader concurs · grade B
P2, dated 15 Oct and inside this practice week, lists him under "Bills players with full practice: S C.J. Gardner-Johnson," matching the model's FULL practice input and derived from the club report. P1, a Bills-produced gallery from 16 Oct, captions "C.J. Gardner-Johnson (22). Buffalo Bills Week 6 Practice, October 15, 2026 at Crawford Field," independently placing him on the field that day. P2's only caution — that he "has both ankle and knee injuries" the model does not carry — is itself framed as "after a mid-game scare the fact that he's listed as a full participant is a good sign," so nothing written contradicts a PLAY call; the gap is simply that no Friday designation or inactives list has been read. It would need to know: Friday 16 Oct final injury report game designation (Out/Doubtful/Questionable/none) for C.J. Gardner-Johnson; Thursday 15 / Friday 16 Oct practice participation levels — confirmation he was not downgraded or re-added late in the week; Any Sat 17 Oct or Sun 18 Oct update on the ankle and the unlisted knee injury following the 'mid-game scare'; Bills' Week 7 inactives list for Sunday 18 Oct vs. opponent; Coach's remark naming Gardner-Johnson's status for Sunday
What the read cites
What was reported
Source
1
“Bills players with full practice:
S C.J. Gardner-Johnson”
Buffalo Rumblings · 2026-10-15
2
“Gardner-Johnson has both ankle and knee injuries, but after a mid-game scare the fact that he's listed as a full participant is a good sign.”
Buffalo Rumblings · 2026-10-15
3
“C.J. Gardner-Johnson (22). Buffalo Bills Week 6 Practice, October 15, 2026 at Crawford Field.”
Buffalo Bills · 2026-10-16
12versions this week
9average, every player
29most for one player
How the call moved
EXPECTED since Fri Oct 16 · 7:01 AM ET · 57 h before kickoff. Biggest move: 97% → 97%, Sat Oct 17 · 5:01 PM ET to Sun Oct 18 · 7:01 AM ET, with no club report in between.
This week's call
NOT EXPECTEDUNLIKELYCOIN FLIPLIKELYEXPECTED
97% · EXPECTED
we expect him to play — this band plays 96% of the time (96–97%), measured out of fold. We stand behind this one.
Practice this week
Fri
Thu
FPdated Fri Oct 16
FPdated Fri Oct 16
Shape of the week: steady. Only days the publisher dated are shown; a day we could not date is left out until the nightly sweep stamps it. The shape is a fact, not a forecast.
Head start
Our call
Kickoff
Stats, with ranges — dot = his average, bar = his game range
Snap share89.3% range 42–100
wk 1–6 · 6 games
Snaps by week — his larger of the offence and defence share
100%wk 1
100%wk 2
99%wk 3
100%wk 4
95%wk 5
42%wk 6
Missed while on the injury report
Season
Weeks on the report
Missed while listed
2026
1
0
Only the weeks he was on the injury report with a recorded result — not every game of his career.
Medical history
When
Injury
Weeks on a report
Worst status
2026 · wk 6
ankle
1
—
2025 · wk 19
concussion
2
Out
2025 · wk 17
knee
1
Questionable
2024 · wk 15
Not injury related
2
—
2024 · wk 3
foot
1
Questionable
2023 · wk 16
chest
3
Out
2022 · wk 13
kidney
1
Out
2021 · wk 15
toe
1
—
2021 · wk 10
foot
1
Out
2021 · wk 2
knee
2
Questionable
2019 · wk 17
arm
1
—
2019 · wk 16
concussion
1
Questionable
Every injury episode on file for him, as the record holds it.
Injury history by season · 12 episodes · 17 weeks on a report · same site more than once: concussion ×2
2019
arm · 1wconcussion · 1w
2021
toe · 1wfoot · 1wknee · 2w
2022
kidney · 1w
2023
chest · 3w
2024
Not injury related · 2wfoot · 1w
2025
knee · 1w
2026
ankle · 1w
Weeks 1–18
ruled out
questionable
listed, and played
Each bar is one episode: the week it began and how many weeks he was on a report, coloured by the worst status. One that began after week 18 is in the table above and not drawn here.
Our past calls vs what happened
Wk 6PLAY 97% ✓ rightbefore his team said anything; played
Season on him: 1 of 1 graded call of ours right. Graded by the record: right or a miss against whether he played. A week we did not call, or his club's own word, is not graded.
The rest of his team's report this week
Player
Pos
Practice
Whose word
Call
Chance he plays
Band
DJ Moore
WR
LTD
team's word
Questionable
Bradley Chubb
LB
FULL
ours
PLAY
99%
EXPECTED
Ed Oliver
DE
LTD
team's word
Questionable
Ty Johnson
RB
FULL
ours
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
Michael Danna
LB
UNK
team's word
—
Spencer Brown
T
FULL
ours
PLAY
99%
EXPECTED
Josh Palmer
WR
LTD
team's word
Questionable
Dee Alford
CB
LTD
team's word
Questionable
Terrel Bernard
LB
LTD
ours
PLAY
96%
EXPECTED
Christian Benford
CB
FULL
ours
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
Tyrell Shavers
WR
UNK
team's word
—
Te'Cory Couch
DB
UNK
ours
PLAY
56%
COIN FLIP
Keon Coleman
WR
FULL
ours
PLAY
91%
EXPECTED
Landon Jackson
DE
FULL
ours
PLAY
88%
EXPECTED
Jordan Hancock
CB
UNK
team's word
—
Dorian Strong
CB
UNK
team's word
—
T.J. Sanders
DE
FULL
team's word
Questionable
TJ Parker
LB
FULL
ours
PLAY
82%
LIKELY
Zane Durant
DT
UNK
team's word
—
Ar'maj Reed-Adams
G
FULL
team's word
—
Jude Bowry
OT
UNK
team's word
—
The model reads the room: who else is out shifts what his own designation is worth.
The data behind this page — the timeline in words, every call and week on record, about him, and what this page does not show
Profile — as of week 6
Role
SAF1 · 99% snaps
Season
2026 · 5 games through wk 5
Career
7 seasons · 101 games before 2026
Injuries
10 episodes · last: concussion, 2025 wk 20
Bio
age 28.7 · 7 seasons' experience · drafted round 4
Where the profile comes from
Built from: honors.db; nflverse injuries_2026.csv; medical.db; nflverse players.csv; profile.db; nflverse roster_2026.csv; nflverse roster_weekly_2026.csv; nflverse snap_counts_2026.csv; nflverse stats_player_week_2026.csv. Every number in it is one those sources hold.
a starter at free safety — 100% of the snaps in his best week of 6
Listed on the depth chart
first at free safety
Snaps played
89% a week on average over 6 weeks, 100% at his highest
Build
5 ft 11 in · 208 lb
College
Florida
Drafted
2019, round 4 pick 105, by NO
Age
25-28 at the season's start
Experience
7 seasons
When this call was made, and when the world knew
WrittenWe first said PLAY.
PublicOur call became public, at kickoff.
KickoffKickoff.
How our call moved, earliest first
When
Lead
Call
Chance he plays
Band
On what
Fri Oct 16 · 7:01 AM ET
57 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Fri Oct 16 · 12:01 PM ET
52 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Fri Oct 16 · 3:49 PM ET
49 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Fri Oct 16 · 5:02 PM ET
47 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Fri Oct 16 · 5:21 PM ET
47 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Fri Oct 16 · 7:56 PM ET
45 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sat Oct 17 · 7:02 AM ET
33 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sat Oct 17 · 12:02 PM ET
28 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sat Oct 17 · 5:01 PM ET
23 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sun Oct 18 · 7:01 AM ET
9 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sun Oct 18 · 12:02 PM ET
4 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sun Oct 18 · 12:29 PM ET
4 h
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
12 calls this week, and the call never flipped between PLAY and SIT. Each lead time is the one that call actually had when it was written — never recounted from now. A call that changes is the record working: new evidence arrived and we said so, in public, before the game.
His record this season
Wk
Practice
Chance he plays
Call
Source
Played
6
FULL
97%
PLAY
before his team said anything
yes
A blank in Played is a week not yet settled — never a no.