When C.J. Gardner-Johnson was told he was done for the season, "you can’t get kicked any more," he said. The doctors said he was looking at six months of rehab after he tore his pec in the Lions' Week 2 loss to the Seahawks. Gardner-Johnson made it back three months later, returning to the practice field on his 26th birthday.
How?
"God, eat right, two-a-days," Gardner-Johnson said Wednesday after his first practice with the Lions since September. After undergoing surgery, he put his mind to beating the timeline by putting his body through 14 hours of rehab a day.
"Wake up at 7 and I probably ain't done until like 9 at night," he said.
For Gardner-Johnson, the possibility of a quicker-than-expected recovery became real when his surgeon told him "the process could change if I just do certain things," and do them right every day. It became necessary earlier this month when he watched the Lions play their worst game of the season in a 28-13 loss to the Bears.
"When we lost to Chicago, that’s when I knew something was wrong," said Gardner-Johnson. "I can’t tell you what’s going on, offense, defense, because I was away, but I knew something was wrong, Energy wasn’t the same, so I just feel like I had to come back."
Gardner-Johnson said he was already kicking it into overdrive to return. But at that point, he was in "high gear." 10 days later, he was back on the practice field in Allen Park, fired up to join a first-place team that has a chance to win the NFC North for the first time ever -- and already setting the bar higher.
"Shoot, we trying to go for that 1 seed," Gardner-Johnson said. "That’s how I feel, truthfully."
This is why the Lions signed Gardner-Johnson, to help push them to the next level. He's a playmaker in the secondary and a tone-setter for the team. He led the NFL in interceptions last season despite missing five games late in the year with a lacerated kidney, then returned in January and helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl. He's won three division titles in four NFL seasons, and he's raring to make it four in five.
"That’s the best feeling," Gardner-Johnson said. "Home-field advantage."
"I think Coach Dan was saying we’re being hunted. I don’t think we’re being hunted, we hunting that swag still," he said. "We still hunting for what’s ours. And I don’t think a lot of guys understand, you’re in a position right now where you could change your life. You fighting for a seed that you ain’t never seen before."
Gardner-Johnson is no stranger to staring down pain. He tore his pec early in Detroit's loss to the Seahawks, then finished out the game. Asked how he played through it, he said, "I’m a dawg. I don’t think there’s no safety better than me right now, that’s why. I feel like I’m the best safety, so I gotta go out there and prove it."
Still, Gardner-Johnson admits to some trepidation in returning so soon after surgery. There's a lot on the line in the coming games, his body, his next contract as a free-agent to be, and the Lions' season.
"I’m scared, but it’s like, I been doing this since I was a kid, so I gotta face my fears and go out there and do what I love," he said. "I think that’s the biggest thing right now, just facing my fear of messing up again. ... Being back, I just want to make my teammates proud. I don’t even care about nobody else. As long as they know I’m the same person as before I left, we good."
The same player would be a huge boost to Detroit's defense. The Lions are on the hunt for more takeaways, and Gardner-Johnson knows how to find them. With his physicality, ball skills and instincts, he can be counted on for a couple game-changing plays each week. That's one way to make a decent defense look great.
In addition to his three division titles, Gardner-Johnson has played in six playoff games. The Lions haven't played one in seven years, and haven't hosted one in 30. That's about to change. They've won one playoff game in the Super Bowl era, two fewer than Gardner-Johnson through four seasons. Whether that's about to change remains to be seen, but it's a big part of why Gardner-Johnson came back.
"Right now, (the focus is on) coming tighter, tuning out the noise. You guys call it the Kool Aid we be drinking? Man, put that sh*t down. Just keep playing ball. Excuse my language, but it’s just understanding that this team’s got a chance to change the city’s history and just change their history of their names."
When exactly Gardner-Johnson returns to game action -- and when he'll be fully up to speed -- is "TBD," he said. For now, he's just happy to be back in the building with his teammates after feeling "a void, like I was trying to find something this whole time" during rehab, he said.
"Think I found it here," said Gardner-Johnson, gesturing around the locker room. "You don’t get this opportunity to actually come back and help a team make a run, so I’m happy."
So, with Gardner-Johnson back on the field, are the Lions a threat in the playoffs?
"That’s the dumbest question," he said. "You know we a threat."