The Buffalo Bills signed C.J. Gardner-Johnson in March to bring a proven voice to a defense entering its first season under new head coach Joe Brady. Although there were concerns about him due to his short stints on previous teams, he has been one of the loudest and most impressive presences of Bills training camp through the opening week.
Unfortunately, on Saturday, Gardner-Johnson went down with a lower right-leg injury and couldn’t put weight on it. There were rumors that the injury could be a season-ending torn Achilles, but Bills star Dion Dawkins offered a positive update.
Dion Dawkins Reveals C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s Injury Status
Dawkins, speaking to reporters after practice, revealed that Gardner-Johnson was “alright” and shouldn’t miss much time.
“C.J. is a teammate that I didn’t know that I needed, I swear, right?” Dawkins said. “Like, C.J. is my new married brother, and I love the kid, for real. And I walked up to him, and I told him, ‘You alright? Take care of yourself. Can you walk?’ and he got up, and he did his thing. He can put weight on his legs so he can walk. So, we all know that injury is 100% in this league, but he’s alright.”
“I got the message from coaches that he’s alright and they’re going to do their protocol,” Dawkins added. “He’ll get his, whatever he has to get, and he’ll be right back in the loop. But C.J. is okay. But it’s a scary thing, it is a scary thing…. to see anybody go down for a quick second. But C.J. is a dog, as we all know. So if anybody’s going to push you to something, the right way, it’ll be C.J.”
Dion Dawkins on CJ Gardner-Johnson’s injury:
“He can walk…he’s alright. I got the message from the coaches that he’s alright and they’re going to do their protocol… but CJ is okay.”
The Bills do NOT have any updates at this time.#BillsMafia @BuffaloPlus https://t.co/VIQ3K2VrKZ pic.twitter.com/FnV9f7f2mS
— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) August 1, 2026
Dawkins’ update on Gardner-Johnson’s injury is meaningful for a Bills defense navigating its first season without Sean McDermott. The 28-year-old safety is a Super Bowl champion who tends to raise the standard of whichever secondary he’s in, and the group led by defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard needs exactly that kind of voice up front.
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Garnder-Johnson played 13 total games last season, three with the Houston Texans and 10 with the Chicago Bears. He finished the year with 66 total tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 6 quarterback hits, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, and 4 passes defended.
He didn’t play enough last year to get ranked on PFN’s Safety Impact Metric, but in 2024 with the Philadelphia Eagles, he posted an impact score of 85.3, ranking ninth in the league.
As for the Bills’ defense, according to PFN’s Defense Impact Metric, they haven’t ranked among the top 10 for three straight seasons, ranking 19th in 2025 and 15th in 2024 and 2023.
The hope is that Leonhard, who was the defensive pass game coordinator for the Denver Broncos last season, will transform the Bills’ defense back into a top-10 unit, but for it to happen, he needs Gardner-Johnson on the field.
