A fascinating glimpse into the mind of Eagles’ CJ Gardner-Johnson

A fascinating glimpse into the mind of Eagles’ CJ Gardner-Johnson originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia

Whether he’s talking to a teammate, dancing during practice or answering questions in his first can’t-miss press conference of the summer, CJ Gardner-Johnson is one of a kind.

One of one.

And he is always himself.

And does the Eagles organization allow him to be himself?

“Y-,” said Gardner-Johnson. “Excuse my language, but no filter.”

Yes, of course, sorry.

“I don’t care how you feel,” Gardner-Johnson continued before pointing to several members of the media crowd in front of her. “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 and hold myself accountable. I get [dogged] for saying little things. If you guys weren’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.”

Does Gardner-Johnson really have that many critics? Are there really so many who doubted him? Are there really so many who thought he couldn’t play safely or didn’t deserve praise?

Probably not.

But that’s his mentality and the mercurial security gave us a glimpse of that on Sunday afternoon after the seventh practice of summer training camp.

The Eagles didn’t acquire Gardner-Johnson until training camp ended in 2022 and then he joined the Lions on a one-year deal in 2023 before returning home to Philadelphia this offseason. So this is Gardner-Johnson’s first training camp at the NovaCare Complex and it has been exactly what you would expect.

CJGJ brings the juice. Without fail. Daily.

It’s no secret he’s a favorite of coach Nick Sirianni and maybe that’s why Sirianni gave Gardner-Johnson the chance to get the entire team out of a meeting last week with a pitch in the auditorium.

He nailed it.

This is how you become a locker room hero.

At first, Sirianni was upset because they had a lot to do in that team meeting, but then he realized how much camaraderie that moment built. And they made up for what they lost the next day anyway.

“They’re there and Chauncey hadn’t fired. He wasn’t even close,” Sirianni said. “So we really needed our date and they were having fun. How do you know what? Let’s put something on this. ‘Hey, the team meeting will be canceled if Chauncey does this,’ and he coached. So I don’t know if he pushed me. He might be tricking me. But he made the shot. The guys went crazy.

Gardner-Johnson said he was minding his own business when Sirianni challenged him. He said it was like LeBron James went cold for three quarters but then hit the game-winning shot.

Even his teammates didn’t think he would get it right.

“Honestly, no,” DeVonta Smith said. “I did not do.”

Smith said Sunday that he doesn’t really hear much of Gardner-Johnson’s trash talk during practice; he hangs up. But he knows what CJGJ is talking about. Because CJGJ is always talking.

Gardner-Johnson plays the game with an edge and made it clear on Sunday that he considers himself a throwback to other “aggressive” and “passionate” players in recent history. He named Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Ray Lewis and Ndamukong Suh.

Guys, he said “I didn’t accept anything”.

“Excuse my language,” he said.

Again… sorry.

“But it’s like, it’s me,” he said. “I’m here to improve every day. I hold my teammates accountable, I hold myself accountable. I don’t get mad at anyone when I’m on the field shouting. I’m screaming because we need to do better. I’m not upset because I wasn’t intercepted. I’m upset because we didn’t do our job to stop the play.”

Gardner-Johnson plays with an edge when games matter, but he also brings that energy to the practice field. And on Sunday he explained why.

“Because when it’s Week 7 against Dallas, Micah Parsons is going to come out screaming at you,” Gardner-Johnson said, answering what the final question at the press conference would be. “When Week 1 comes around, Xavier McKinney will be yelling at AJ (Brown). When it’s the Super Bowl, maybe the other side will yell at the entire offensive line. I’m just looking like the same guys you would see on the field, in practice, in the meeting room, off the field and on the field.

“I will not change. You want me to be this… Put this: put ‘winner’ behind my name. And a ‘competitive gamer’ and a ‘passionate gamer’ before you say anything else. I love you all.”

And so, Gardner-Johnson abruptly stood up and ran away. The show is over.

See you tomorrow.

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