C.J. Gardner-Johnson lashes out at the Detroit Lions, ‘I got lied to’

His year with the Detroit Lions was “hell,” according to C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who also criticised the team for deceiving him.

When asked to think back on his time with the Detroit Lions last season, C.J. Gardner-Johnson was very much in line with his reputation for speaking his mind. Gardner-Johnson, who currently plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, who are headed to the Super Bowl, described his time with the Lions as “hell” and said that “everyone” in the organisation lied to him.

Speaking to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press in New Orleans, Gardner-Johnson discussed the difficult season in relation to tearing his pectoral muscle during Detroit’s Week 2 game and the recovery process to eventually return to the field. He chose to train outside of Detroit, suggesting that his dissatisfaction with the team was already present.

Gardner-Johnson remarked, “To be honest, it was hell in Detroit.” “I went there just to — Well, I was like, ‘(Expletive) it,’ when I got hurt.” Sincerely. I didn’t go to rehab there for that reason.

Gardner-Johnson also reaffirmed his frustration, which he didn’t conceal at the time, that Brian Branch at nickel and Ifeatu Melifonwu at safety had taken over some of his responsibilities after he recovered from his injury. However, he went above and beyond when discussing it with the Lions this week.

“Iffy took my place, so I got benched,” he stated on Thursday. It was crazy that he didn’t end up starting this year after having a strong run, they thought. You can see where I am and where they are.

[Note: Due in part to an injury that kept him out of the first 14 games of the 2024 season, Melifonwu “didn’t end up starting this year.”

The way free agency was handled seems to be a major source of Gardner-Johnson’s annoyance. The veteran safety claims that the Lions made a commitment to bring him back in 2024 but clearly broke that promise.

“I was deceived, so whatever.” Gardner-Johnson claims, “I was respectfully informed that I would be brought back, but I was not brought back.” I signed back here because I wasn’t really tripping on it, and the offseason went really well for me. Everything turned out okay.

Gardner-Johnson conjectured as to why the Lions decided against re-signing him. He rejected the idea that the Lions would have wanted to keep him if he had recovered in Detroit, saying he didn’t think “the respect level wasn’t there.” Rather, he thinks the team overreacted to his performance against the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.

“I thought that they felt something more after the game,” he remarked. “After something like a blown coverage that wasn’t on me and one missed tackle.” I suppose I turned into the team’s villain.

One thing is certain: if you were going into the Super Bowl without a strong rooting interest, you might have a reason to hope the Kansas City Chiefs win on Sunday. Whether or not any of these criticisms of the Lions are valid will probably never be known.