Whether he’s jawing at a teammate, dancing during practice or fielding questions in his first can’t-miss press conference of the summer, C.J. Gardner-Johnson is one of a kind.
One of one.
And he’s always himself.
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What about the Eagles organization allows him to be himself?
“S—,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Excuse my language but no filter.”
Yeah, sure, excused.
“I don’t care how y’all feel,” Gardner-Johnson continued before pointing to several members of the media crowd in front of him. “I don’t care how you feel, I don’t care how you feel, I don’t care how you feel. I’m here to win, hold my teammates accountable, hold myself accountable. I get [dogged] on for saying little things. If y’all wasn’t hating on me, I wasn’t doing my job. So I’m glad I got a lot of haters, a lot of critics, if that makes sense.”
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Does Gardner-Johnson really have that many critics? Are there really that many who have doubted him? Are there really that many who thought he couldn’t play safety or that he’s not worthy of accolades?
Probably not.
But that’s his mindset and the mercurial safety gave us a glimpse into it on Sunday afternoon following the seventh training camp practice of the summer.
The Eagles didn’t acquire Gardner-Johnson until after training camp concluded in 2022 and then he joined the Lions on a one-year deal in 2023 before coming home to Philly this offseason. So this is Gardner-Johnson’s first training camp at the NovaCare Complex and he’s been exactly what you’d expect.
CJGJ brings the juice. Without fail. Every day.
It’s no secret that he’s been a favorite of head coach Nick Sirianni and maybe that’s why Sirianni gave Gardner-Johnson a chance to get the entire team out of a meeting last week with one jump shot in the auditorium.
He nailed it.
That’s how you become a locker room hero.
At first, Sirianni was bummed because they had a lot to get to in that team meeting but then he realized how much camaraderie that moment built. And they made up what they missed the next day anyway.
“They're in there and Chauncey hadn't made a shot. He wasn't even close,” Sirianni said. “So we really needed our meeting and they were having a good time. Like you know what? Let's put something on this. ‘Hey, team meeting is canceled if Chauncey makes this,’ and he drilled it. So I don't know if he hustled me. He may have been hustling me. But he hit the shot. Guys went crazy.”
Gardner-Johnson said he was minding his own business when Sirianni challenged him. He said it was like LeBron James going cold for three quarters but then drilling the game-winning shot.
Even his teammates didn’t think he was going to nail it.
“Honestly, no,” DeVonta Smith said. “I didn’t.”
Smith on Sunday said he doesn’t really hear much of Gardner-Johnson’s trash talk during practice; he tunes it out. But he knows CJGJ is talking. Because CJGJ is always talking.
Gardner-Johnson plays the game with an edge and made the point on Sunday that he thinks he’s a throwback to other “feisty” and “passionate” players of recent history. He named Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Ray Lewis and Ndamukong Suh.
Guys he said “didn’t take no s—.”
“Excuse my language,” he said.
Again … excused.
“But it’s like, that’s me,” he said. “I’m here to get better every day. I hold my teammates accountable, I hold myself accountable. I’m not mad at nobody when I’m on the field yelling. I’m yelling because we need to get better. I’m not upset because I didn’t get an interception. I’m upset because we didn’t do our job to stop the play.”
Gardner-Johnson plays with an edge when the games matter but he brings that juice to the practice field too. And on Sunday he explained why.
“Because when it’s Week 7 against Dallas, Micah Parsons gonna go out there yelling at you,” Gardner-Johnson said, answering what would be the final question of the press conference. “When it’s Week 1, Xavier McKinney’s going to be in his deep half yelling at A.J. (Brown). When it’s Super Bowl, who knows on the other side yelling at the whole offensive line. I’m just resembling the same s— that you would see on the field in practice, in the meeting room, off the field and on the field.
“I’m not going to change. Y’all want me to be this … Put this: Put ‘winner’ behind my name. And ‘competitive player’ and a ‘passionate player’ before you say anything else. Love y’all.”
And just like that, Gardner-Johnson abruptly got up and jogged off. The show was over.
Until tomorrow.
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