A few minutes earlier in the fourth quarter, C.J. Gardner-Johnson was on the field writhing in pain. So it was understandable that when Gardner-Johnson wasn’t quite looking like himself after he returned, safeties coach Joe Kasper tried to take him out of the game.
But CJGJ wasn’t having it.
“I’m not coming off the field,” Gardner-Johnson said. “You gotta kill me.”
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While Gardner-Johnson didn’t have a perfect performance in the Eagles’ 22-16 win over the Panthers on Sunday, he did provide some big plays, energy and a ton of heart.
“When you want to win and play hard for your guys, I think just going out there and showing them that I still got it in me, regardless of how I’m feeling,” Gardner-Johnson said.
Gardner-Johnson got hurt at the 9:49 mark of the fourth quarter. He took on some friendly fire as he tackled Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard and took a shot to his backside — “That s— hurt,” he said.
After a few minutes on the ground, Gardner-Johnson was able to get off the field and walk slowly to the sideline. And then a bit later, he returned to the game.
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“When you run to the ball, that’s what you can expect to happen,” he said. “But other than that, we’re good. Take care of the body. We’ll see you on Monday.”
In the first half, Gardner-Johnson had to miss time while being evaluated for a concussion after taking another friendly fire hit from Tristin McCollum. Gardner-Johnson was cleared to return and did. He just kept fighting to stay in the game.
As much as the Eagles have confidence in their backups, they entered this game without starter Reed Blankenship (concussion) and without backup Sydney Brown (knee). They were down to Gardner-Johnson, McCollum, Avonte Maddox and Andre’ Sam at safety in this game. Maddox had to take the snaps when Gardner-Johnson briefly left the game.
“It gave a boost to the defense to let us know he’s OK,” Darius Slay said. “To see guys that go down and come back in, I’m just thankful that they’re able to return to the game. I’m just blessed with the fact that he’s healthy, came out clean, came out good and helped us contribute to this win.”
There were some ups and downs for Gardner-Johnson in this game. He was in the area on a touchdown pass in the first half and misjudged the ball on a play that could have been a fourth quarter touchdown to Xavier Legette, who dropped the ball.
But Gardner-Johnson had more good plays than bad on Sunday. He had a huge second-quarter interception to set up an Eagles touchdown and he had a monster hit on Legette to force a third-down incompletion on the first drive of the game.
Oh my. We'll just leave this one here 😳@CGJXXIII | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/2oaGvvDFxd
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 8, 2024
He ended up with 6 tackles, 1 interception and 2 pass breakups in the win.
And even earned a couple shoutouts from Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins.
@CGJXXIII 😤 @Eagles pic.twitter.com/QECYZ3r8rK
— Brian Dawkins (@BrianDawkins) December 8, 2024
Gardner-Johnson appreciated the trust Nick Sirianni showed in the Eagles’ defense by punting on the fourth quarter and putting the game on the defense. And Gardner-Johnson also appreciated the referee seeing that Legette didn’t cleanly catch that pass downfield.
After it was ruled incomplete, Gardner-Johnson felt a huge sense of relief.
“I truthfully thought he caught the ball. I’m not even going to lie,” Gardner-Johnson said. “And then when he said it hit the ground, I’m like, ‘Yes! Live to see another down!’”
And all the pain was worth it after a win.
“The pain of a winner I guess,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I’m good. I’ll get through it, see you on Monday.”
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