Philadelphia Eagles Getting Their 'Swagger Back' With C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Says Roseman

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Siriani and GM Howie Roseman talked about the toughness safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson adds to the defense.

Tough pieces were what the Philadelphia Eagles were looking to add in the offseason. They believe they hit the bullseye by bringing back C.J. Gardner-Johnson after the safety spent last season with the Detroit Lions.

“We didn’t meet our expectations last year, so there were a lot of different pieces that weren’t good enough,” said head coach Nick Sirianni to reporters at the NFL Owner’s Meetings in Orlando earlier in the week. “We know this, in football, when you’re tough, it gives you a chance to win a lot of games. That’s what we always talk about, what we think about.

“We want to be the toughest team at all times, and there have been stretches we’ve been that these past three years.”

Neither Sirianni nor Howie Roseman, who also spoke to reporters in Orlando, were shy about their affection for Gardner-Johnson’s toughness.

Feb 12, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, US; Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (23) reacts

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“We were looking to gain our swagger and mentality back,” said Roseman. “Obviously what happened at the end of the year didn’t feel good, wasn’t acceptable for any of us. You get players who can bring that and have that motivation and that mentality.”

Added Sirianni: “When you go back and look at Chauncey, the things that he added when he was here in '22, you saw a guy that was willing to throw his body around and play physically tough and mentally tough, too.

“There’s two pieces of toughness, the physical toughness and the mental toughness. Whether he had a good play or he had a bad play, he was playing his butt off the next play with amazing effort.”

Sirianni recalled a play in the NFC Championship Game wipeout of the San Francisco 49ers. It was an open-field tackle Gardner-Johnson made on running back Christian McCaffrey that he remembers sparking excitement.

“I’m really excited with the toughness Chauncey brings back and he plays with constant energy and that’s contagious,” he said. “Physical play brings that juice. It’s like an alley-oop or a big three-pointer, whatever sport you want to compare it to, the energy it brings to the sideline and to your team and the momentum it builds.

“So, excited about his toughness that he adds, the excitement he plays with, and looking forward to him adding that piece to the defense.”

CJGJ will be added to the safety room along with Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown, when Brown is ready to return from an ACL tear suffered late in the season.

Gardner-Johnson also brings the type of versatility that allows him to play in the slot, a troublesome spot for the Eagles last year with the number of injuries that hit that position.

Of course, with someone who plays like Gardner-Johnson, there is also the risk of injury, and they have disrupted his past two seasons, limiting him to just 15 of a possible 34 games.

It’s a risk the Eagles are willing to take to add some toughness.

“We want to make sure that’s who we are, that’s how we’re built,” said Sirianni. “We’re built on the offense and defensive lines, we have great skill guys, but we want to bring a physical toughness. I don’t want to say I thought it was missing (last year), but we want to do everything better than we did, particularly at the end of last year.”