Larry Henry Jr
C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s return to Philadelphia has brought some added excitement to Vic Fangio’s defense.
Gardner-Johnson returned to the Eagles this offseason as a free agent signing after playing one season with the Detroit Lions. The versatile safety helped the Eagles to the NFC title in 2022 before also playing a key part in the Lions positive return to postseason play in 2023.
The five-year pro enjoyed a career-best year during his first spell in Philadelphia and has already shown positive moments during preseason camp this summer.
Despite recently being sidelined with a minor shoulder injury, Gardner-Johnson’s veteran experience and relentless effort should help the Eagles secondary be more consistent in 2024.
“.. Chauncey [C.J. Gardner-Johnson] just brings an element of toughness to this football team,” Sirianni told reporters. “He has relentless effort, right? He does do a great job of tackling and defeating blocks. I think back to the last tackle really I’ve seen him make for the Philadelphia Eagles is that hit he had in the Super Bowl that was, ‘Man, I can’t believe that guy hung onto that football on that one.’ It was a great play by both guys.
“But he brings that, right? He brings the knocking the guy out of bounds through the white to the other side that I’ve seen so many times from him,” Sirianni added. “And then he plays his butt off and plays hard. I love that we have him back. I don’t think it’s any secret I’m a huge fan of Chauncey and the things he brings to our football team because it represents a lot of things we want to be about here. He’s a great teammate and look forward to continuing to see him grow as a player.”
The 26-year-old has played in numerous positions since his rookie season in 2019, but mainly will suit up as a safety for the Eagles in his return. Alongside fellow veterans Darius Slay and James Bradberry, Gardner-Johnson will be expected to be key leaders to young players such as Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell (both 2024 draft picks by Philadelphia).
New defensive coordinator Fangio has yet to work with Gardner-Johnson in his career, but already provided positive feedback to his work this summer.
“I think he’ll be good,” Fangio said. “He’s had a good camp so far. The good thing about what he’s been doing so far, and I told him this, there has been a day or two where he wasn’t even noticeable, and that’s a good thing because he didn’t have action come his way in the limited reps he had; whereas some guys can have some screw-ups in those situations.”
The Eagles open their 2024 preseason schedule on August 9 against the Baltimore Ravens.
You can follow Larry Henry on Twitter (@lhenry019) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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Again, it’s a good group, one of the best groups I’ve had 1 through 13 in my time in the NFL, and they all bring different and I’ll be excited to see how that plays out as we go through the rest of camp.