With respect to the Lions' offense, C.J. Gardner-Johnson hopes it's the defense that gets introduced to the crowd before Sunday's home opener at Ford Field. He wants to run through a tunnel of flames and into a cauldron of noise wearing a blue ski mask and Buffs, as the fans follow his lead. Or maybe he's following theirs.
"From what I’ve seen, we got probably the most ruthless fans in the game," Gardner-Johnson said Tuesday. "From talking crap, they feed off of us. They yelled the loudest (last week), and that was a home game for KC. … You're gonna see on Sunday. Blue ski masks everywhere."
Gardner-Johnson pulled one on before and after the Lions' season-opening win over the defending champs, first in the locker room and then on the field. It was inspired by the 'VILLAIN' sweatshirt GM Brad Holmes wore prior to this year's draft. If Holmes is in the business of stealing talent, Gardner-Johnson and the Lions plan to strip their opponents of wins that used to come easy in Detroit -- where fans used to hide behind paper bags, if they showed up at all.
"What Coach Brad say, we villains, right? It's part of us, it’s just the culture, I’m changing it," said Gardner-Johnson. "No paper bags. Ski masks, we taking what’s ours."
Gardner-Johnson has been talking a big game since he arrived in Detroit, and backing it up. A winner wherever he's been, the 25-year-old defensive back is one of the voices setting a new standard in the Lions locker room. This team expects to win every week. Last Thursday was proof. Detroit trailed Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs at the half and in the fourth quarter, and rallied to rob Kansas City of a celebratory night.
The Lions established this standard in the second half of last season, prior to Gardner-Johnson's arrival. He's just a living expression of it. He doesn't stop talking trash until he's taken out the garbage. He was so vocal during joint practices with the Jaguars last month that at one point, Trevor Lawrence walked across the field to ask Gardner-Johnson what he had to say. Gardner-Johnson told the 23-year-old quarterback that he's not (bleep) yet in the NFL.
You can talk like this coming off a season in which you led the league in picks despite playing in just 12 games, then recovered from a lacerated kidney to help your team reach the Super Bowl. You can talk like this when you've won three division titles in four years in the NFL. Gardner-Johnson won the first two of those with Dan Campbell and Aaron Glenn in New Orleans, and now they're hunting another in Detroit. He reiterated Tuesday that their reunion is "why I'm here."
"I just love being a part of something that’s real again," he said. "I think a lot of guys get misconstrued that, 'He’s just here for money.' Nah, I’m about to have fun, and football right now is at an all-time fun."
Brash as he is, Gardner-Johnson is true to his own game. He didn't love the way he played in the Lions' opener. In fact, asked to asses his performance, Gardner-Johnson, said, "Sh*tty." He was strong against the run, but lost his man in the back of the end zone on the Chiefs' first touchdown and had two pass break-ups that could have been picks.
"My teammates are depending on me to do a lot more — it’s not even the interceptions," he said. "Just being there and doing the details and little things right, so our coaches can trust what we’re doing as players and keep giving us more and more each week," he said.
While Gardner-Johnson dismissed the missed picks, they weighed on him a little while he was watching games over the weekend. Sure, he loved seeing Jets cornerback Jordan Whitehead grab three interceptions on Monday Night Football, and made it known via Twitter. It also "kind of pissed me off," he said. "Like, dang, you fall behind."
"But the thing about the NFL is it's 17 games, so you got time to get back on pace," Gardner-Johnson. "And like I said, I’m not worried about interceptions. I’m only worried about winning football games, keeping my teammates and coaches happy and everything else will just flow. Respect the grass and the grass respects you."
Gardner-Johnson doesn't need an introduction on Sunday. He's already made himself known, the perfect fit for a team that plans to make itself heard. The Lions made noise last season. Gardner-Johnson just wants to turn up the volume.