HOUSTON – The tension behind the scenes involving veteran safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson had been brewing for weeks. It was a chaotic, untenable situation where league sources characterized Gardner-Johnson’s approach as unwilling to conform to the team-firs environment.

His dismissal was only a matter of timing because it became clear to the Texans that he wasn’t a fit for their culture and wasn’t going to alter his pattern of behavior and lapses in performance that included multiple, costly coverage busts as he didn’t play within Texans coach DeMeco Ryans’ scheme.

Among the issues that arose with Gardner-Johnson, per sources: criticism of teammates in the secondary, including the size of one player’s contract, complaints about his role, including a desire to blitz more frequently, and a t

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