The C.J. Gardner-Johnson revenge game finally happened, and he made sure his former team heard about it.
The former Saints safety could be heard shouting in the locker room after his team's 15-12 win: "They ain't contenders. They're pretenders. They have Derek Carr, remember that."
Gardner-Johnson, who has not exactly held his derision for his former team far below the surface then held court in the locker room, legs crossed and loud, saying whatever came to mind despite the question asked.
"We knew he was gonna give us one all game," Gardner-Johnson said, referring to Carr's game-sealing interception. "Like, everybody want to be on, they thought they had us on a little 7 route, OK, [Chris] Olave, cool, but they didn’t go over our head all day. Cool, cool, it’s cool. .. We got the best secondary, best D-line, best front 7 in the league right now. And I’m popping it ... because at the end of the day they said we was down and out, going on about last week. Now look at you now.”
It's worth noting that Gardner-Johnson was the closest player in coverage, though not particularly close, on Olave's go-ahead touchdown in the 4th quarter before the Eagles took back the lead with a long Dallas Goedert catch and Saquon Barkley's second TD run.
The former Saints safety did roll up 8 tackles and a pass defensed in what was a defensive struggle that saw just three total points through three quarters. He set the tone early in the game, slinging Alvin Kamara to the turf well out of bounds on the third play of the game.
It was a competitive environment that saw a good bit of talk throughout. Eagles DT Jalen Carter was involved. Things got heated late in the game with Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu and CB Marshon Lattimore getting into extended talks over by the Eagles bench late in the game. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni also spent a bit of time over by the Saints bench after a Trevor Penning personal foul earlier in the quarter.
“It’s an intense game and emotions get high and obviously it was a 1-point game for a while there and I think defensively man, obviously, we want to defend our home field ... but obviously me and Latt, we should never go to those guys’ sidelines," Mathieu said. "So we’ll learn from that but it happens to all of us, emotions kind of get the best of us, but didn’t really hear much from those guys all game until they went up at the end, so just be looking forward to playing against those guys again, hopefully.”
The back-and-forth between CJGJ and Mathieu has been ongoing on social media, with the Eagles safety suggesting that the Saints star is overrated and the Honey Badger mainly quipping back with above-the-fray sentiments. Gardner-Johnson was drafted by the Saints in 2019 but was traded away to the Eagles ahead of the 2021 season. He spent that year in Philly before leaving for the Lions in free agency. He re-signed with the Eagles to a 3-year deal before the 2024 season and has been a mainstay at the free safety. spot.
The Saints and the Eagles each exit the game at 2-1, with both atop their respective divisions.
