C.J. Gardner-Johnson wasn't necessarily trying to take a shot at Baker Mayfield last week, but he landed one anyway. In discussing how the Lions' secondary would handle the Rams' passing attack, Gardner-Johnson called the Rams' receiving corps "one of the better groups we done faced all year, besides that Tampa group."
"If you give that Tampa group a good quarterback, that’s a good group. (Mike) Evans, (Chris) Godwin, (Russell) Gage, that’s a great group," Gardner-Johnson said.
A week later, Gardner-Johnson and the Lions find themselves preparing to play Mayfield and the Bucs, who are coming to Detroit on Sunday with a spot in the NFC championship game on the line. If the Bucs wanted any bulletin board material, now they have it.
Mayfield responded to Gardner-Johnson on Wednesday, telling reporters in Tampa, "I don't think he’s really watched film, because he mentioned Russell Gage. We love Russell, but Russell hasn’t played a snap all year for us."
Indeed, Gage has missed the duration of the season with a knee injury that he suffered in training camp. Gardner-Johnson did play against the duo of Evans and Godwin twice a year during his three seasons with the Saints, but he missed the Lions' game against the Bucs earlier this season when he was in the early stages of recovering from a torn pec. He hasn't played a game against Mayfield in his NFL career.
"He must be going off the preseason stuff that the media was talking about," Mayfield said. "But he didn't play our first game, so I'm excited to see him. I think he’s a really good player, he has been for a while, and he’s been an impactful guy on every team he’s been on. So he’s a good player, but yeah, he’s gotta do a little bit more film study."
The Lions smothered the Bucs offense in a 20-6 win in Tampa in Week 6, holding Mayfield to season-low passer rating of 56.8. The first overall pick in 2018, Mayfield otherwise had a pretty solid year, throwing 28 touchdowns to 10 picks and posting a rating of 94.6.
Evans and Godwin, meanwhile, had their fourth season of each putting up 1,000 yards. They were one of three wide receiver duos to do it this year, along with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle of the Dolphins and A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith of the Eagles. Evans also tied for the NFL lead with 13 touchdowns.
Mayfield was hot down the stretch with 10 touchdowns, two picks and a rating of 106.5 in the final five games as Tampa rallied to win the NFC South at 9-8. And he continued his heater by throwing three touchdowns in the Bucs' rout of the Eagles in the wild-card round.
Dan Campbell said Tuesday he's got lots of respect for Mayfield as a "tough, competitive" quarterback.
"You can tell he’s the captain of that ship," Campbell said. "And he’s exactly what I think everybody loved when he was coming out of Oklahoma. That’s what you see right now: He’s a free spirit and he’s going to find a way to make plays. He’s going to will his team into moving the football and keeping 'em in it and finding a way to win, so I got a lot of respect for him. He’s tough as nails and man, he’s playing at a high level right now."