DJ Bien-AimeSep 23, 2025, 03:45 PM ET
- DJ Bien-Aime covers the Houston Texans for ESPN. He joined ESPN in July of 2022 after covering the New York Jets for the New York Daily News. He's a former athlete who finished his college career at Louisville. You can catch DJ on ESPN Radio on his show "Talkin' Texans."
HOUSTON -- In a surprise move, the Texans released safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson on Tuesday, a source told ESPN.
In three starts, Gardner-Johnson had 15 tackles with no interceptions or pass breakups.
The Texans traded their 2022 first-round pick -- left guard Kenyon Green -- to the Philadelphia Eagles for Gardner-Johnson in March, hoping to add a ball hawk. Gardner-Johnson had six interceptions in 2024 for the Eagles in their march to a Super Bowl title.
Gardner-Johnson has struggled to pick up coach DeMeco Ryans' defensive scheme this season, which has contributed to several big plays against the secondary through the first three weeks for the Texans, who are 0-3 to start the season.
On Monday, Ryans was asked about the communication between his secondary's players, admitting "it hasn't been great."
"When you see a big play that happens on our defense, somewhere along the lines, there's a bust in communication," Ryans said. "It all starts with communication, and it hasn't been as crisp as it needs to be. We see that. We have to make some adjustments there to make sure we get it corrected."
Each of the Texans' three losses has been by 7 points or less. At minimum, according to team sources, Gardner-Johnson has allowed three big plays in those games that have contributed to the opposing offense scoring touchdowns, adding that Gardner-Johnson has struggled to consistently guard the correct opposing player when required to "match coverage" based on the Texans' defensive call and the routes run by the offense, struggles that also occurred during walk-throughs in the lead-up to games.
During Houston's Week 1 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, quarterback Matthew Stafford threw a 13-yard touchdown to tight end Davis Allen, who ran a corner route into the end zone, which Gardner-Johnson was responsible for. Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter tried to clean up the coverage bust but wasn't able to run down Allen. Houston lost the game 14-9.
In Week 2, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield threw an over route to wideout Ryan Miller for a 20-yard touchdown on the game's opening drive. The Texans were in Cover-2, which required Gardner-Johnson to cover the deep right half of the field. He instead jumped a 10-yard in-breaking route from Buccaneers wideout Sterling Shepard, exposing the deep half for the Miller scoring reception. The Texans lost 20-19.
Last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Gardner-Johnson made a crucial mistake with the game knotted 10-10 late in the fourth quarter, jumping an out-breaking route by Parker Washington when he was responsible for anything over the middle of the field, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence pounced on the mistake, hitting receiver Brian Thomas on a post for a 46-yard reception down to Houston's 10-yard line against man-to-man coverage.
Houston would allow Jaguars running back Travis Etienne to score a play later in an effort to preserve time for a game-rallying drive. But the damage was done and the Texans were unable to find the end zone, falling 17-10.
Compounding the coverage busts, Gardner-Johnson has refused to take responsibility for his mistakes, rubbing his teammates the wrong way, sources added, with one member of the team saying Gardner-Johnson "finger-pointed" instead of owning up to the mistake.
The Texans host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in Houston. Both teams are 0-3. The Texans are hoping improved chemistry will help them break into the win column.
