C.J. Gardner-Johnson is a ball of energy on the field, always moving, always talking, always in the middle of things. And if you’re on the opposing team, probably always getting under your skin.
Gardner-Johnson was at the center of the Detroit Lions‘ second joint practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday, a practice that turned chippy even though the teams weren’t in pads.
I spent a few minutes watching Gardner-Johnson during a special teams period as he bounced around the Lions sideline. He talked briefly with tight ends coach Steve Heiden, then weaved his way through teammates as he made his way to one end of the sideline to visit with linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard. He walked out on the field like the period was over, then came back to the sideline to have a laugh with defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
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As the Jaguars’ third-team cover unit lined up for a kickoff, Gardner-Johnson sidled up next to the official on the Lions’ sideline. He gestured towards a Jacksonville player as if he was angling for a penalty.
When the defense took the field a minute later, Gardner-Johnson lingered near the Jacksonville huddle, his mouth running; five plays later, when the starters for both teams headed back to the sideline, Jacksonville receiver Calvin Ridley stayed on the field, trading words with Gardner-Johnson.
“I don’t know nothing about no damn C.J. Gardner, whatever his damn name is,” Ridley told the Free Press after practice. “I don’t care about his ass. I’m just working, man. He talk to damn much, for real. Keep it football. We out here to play football, this (expletive) just, he can’t help it.”
Gardner-Johnson and Ridley apparently had a back-and-forth during Wednesday’s practice, when I spent the day watching the Lions’ offensive field. Asked after that practice about his history with Ridley, Gardner-Johnson said the two have played against each other since their high school seven-on-seven days in Florida.
“There he go,” Gardner-Johnson said, acknowledging Ridley as he walked past his media session Wednesday on the way to the Jaguars bus.
“He a good player, but he just talk too damn much,” Ridley said from off camera in video of the interview posted on the Lions’ website.
“Facts,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Facts. I’m glad he’s back. One of the best receivers in the game. All respect. Like I said, we go back, because we’re from Florida, so there’s no animosity between us, it’s always competition, if you know how Florida players get down. I’m happy he’s back. It just uplifts everybody’s game when a player of that caliber’s on the field, not just me.”
Gardner-Johnson and Ridley’s relationship didn’t seem quite as cozy when I asked Ridley about Thursday’s practice and whether Gardner-Johnson’s trash talk undermined the work he came to do.
“I barely hear what he says,” Ridley said. “He can barely talk English to me, honestly.”
Told of Ridley’s comments, Gardner-Johnson fired back, “Tell him don’t tuck your tail when he ain’t got no pads on.”
I loved watching the Miami Hurricanes play football in the late 1980s and early ’90s, I never minded trash talk when I played competitive sports back in the day, and I generally believe the swagger Gardner-Johnson brings to the Lions defense is a good thing.
I know it can rub some people the wrong way, even some teammates, who, like Ridley, just want to get their work done. And there is a line players can’t cross with their emotions on the field.
But Lions safety Kerby Joseph, another noted trash-talker, said there is a method to Gardner-Johnson’s madness — “If you can get in their head, they’re done. Once somebody gets inside your head, it kind of helps ’cause it throws people off their game,” he said — and Gardner-Johnson seems conscious of the line he has to toe.
When players from both teams exchanged shoves after Lions linebacker Jack Campbell knocked JaMycal Hasty to the ground near the Jaguars bench, Gardner-Johnson was one of the first Lions to run into the scrum, pulling one of his teammates away.
“You lead by example and you lead by action,” Gardner-Johnson said Wednesday. “Everybody (knows me) to talk, but I mean, if you back it up, you can talk as much crap as you want to.”
More observations from Thursday’s practice:
Two-minute offense connects
It was a little disappointing the Lions weren’t in pads for their final public practice of the summer, but the teams still got valuable work in with five team periods, including some situational football at the end of practice.
I spent the day watching the Lions defense, so I asked receiver Josh Reynolds to share his thoughts on how the offense performed.
“It was solid,” Reynolds said. “It felt like a slower practice, maybe because the pads weren’t on. But we’re over there, we was executing. Was in the red zone, scored a couple plays. You seen the two-minute, got down there when we needed to get down there so ultimately I think it was a pretty good day for the offense for sure.”
Gardner-Johnson backs it up
Defensively, the Lions didn’t allow many big plays, and Gardner-Johnson came away with one interception on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence on the third play of the first team period. The turnover came on a deep pass Lawrence hoisted Ridley’s way into double coverage. Gardner-Johnson made a short return, then tossed the ball back towards the line of scrimmage and hit Lawrence with his pass.
Lawrence turned and looked towards the Lions defense as Gardner-Johnson raised his hands as if to say, sorry, didn’t mean for that to happen.
I was surprised that didn’t lead to anything more physical, but Gardner-Johnson had to be 15 yards from the huddle and the pass glanced off Lawrence and bounced away. The Jaguars’ first-team offense ran two more run plays before leaving the field.
Scouting the Jags
I didn’t have a great vantage point for one-on-one pass rush drills, so I spent most of that period watching seven-on-seven instead. In pass rush, I didn’t see good reps from John Cominsky and Josh Paschal, against Cole Van Lanen and Cooper Hodges.
In seven-on-sevens, Lawrence was 1-for-4 in tight red zone work, throwing incomplete twice to Ridley and finding Zay Jones for a touchdown in the back of the end zone. I’m guessing Christian Kirk leads the Jaguars in receptions for the second straight year, but Ridley was Lawrence’s favorite target on Thursday and Jones was Lawrence’s target on his third red zone incompletion. Just a little something to tuck away for your fantasy football drafts.
Gibbs’ turn to return
Rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs was first up in the Lions’ kick return rotation Thursday. Gibbs was a standout return man in college, both at Alabama and Georgia Tech, and the Lions are looking for a new kick returner now that Justin Jackson has retired.
Gibbs is ticketed for a huge role on offense this fall, so I don’t know how much the Lions want to use him on special teams. But he’s certainly one option that bears watching the rest of the preseason. Wide receiver Kalif Raymond and undrafted rookie cornerback Starling Thomas V also got kick return reps Thursday, and backup running back Jermar Jefferson can handle those duties, too.
Ifeatu Melifonwu took first-team reps on both the kick cover and kick return teams, and Chase Lucas joined him on the top kick cover unit and played behind him on second-team kick return. I haven’t mentioned Lucas, a seventh-round pick in 2022, much in this space this summer, but he flies down the field on kickoffs and could push for a roster spot with two strong games to close the preseason.
Campbell has one speed: Full go
Some highlights from the team portion of practice:
∎ Ridley caught three passes in an early 11-on-11 period Thursday. He snuck behind Joseph for one long catch, but got no yards after the catch on two receptions against Cam Sutton. Gardner-Johnson nearly had a second interception late in practice when he knocked down a play-action Lawrence pass to Evan Engram. The pick wouldn’t have counted, however, as officials flagged Jerry Jacobs for holding Engram on the play.
∎ Jack Campbell plays at one speed, full go, all the time. He’s still playing mostly with the twos, behind Derrick Barnes, but he made a nice diagnosis on a stretch run by Snoop Conner in the middle of practice and had another would-be tackle-for-loss on a check down by Lawrence.
∎ Coaches seemed to cut short one period Thursday, after Campbell made that hard hit on Hasty. The series started with Jamal Agnew tossing the ball at John Cominsky after Cominsky hit Agnew hard following a throwback pass off a run fake. Levi Onwuzurike shoved Agnew before a Jaguars offensive lineman stepped in to mediate.
Brenton Strange caught a C.J. Beathard pass on the next play that Tracy Walker poked away after the whistle. Strange snatched the ball out of the air then bumped Walker on his way back to the huddle.
And on the next play during the scrum, Aidan Hutchinson came running over late and jumped in the air as if he was throwing a mock haymaker from the back of the pile. Hutchinson’s air punch seemed to be an inside joke, after Saivion Smith came in swinging over top of a pile Wednesday.
Depleted wideout corps
The Lions were down to eight receivers Thursday, with Jameson Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Maurice Alexander and Denzel Mims getting the day off because of injuries. Center Frank Ragnow, defensive end Romeo Okwara and running back Mohamed Ibrahim also did not practice.
Gardner-Johnson goes Mutombo
In the situational period at the end of practice, a first-and-10 from the 35-yard line with 1:18 on the clock in a 10-10 game, the Lions’ first-team defense forced a three-and-out by Lawrence and a 54-yard field goal that sailed wide right by the Jaguars’ second-team offense.
On offense, Goff led a drive that culminated with a 39-yard Riley Patterson field goal, but Nate Sudfeld never got the Lions across midfield. The Lions lined up for a 55-yard field goal after the second drive anyway, but Parker Romo was wide right with his kick.
Lawrence was 1-for-2 passing on his drive and was whistled down by sack (I thought prematurely) before throwing incomplete on first down. Gardner-Johnson, naturally, gave the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag after Lawrence’s third-and-9 pass sailed behind Kirk over the middle.
Goff took a sack from Jeremiah Ledbetter late in his drive, on first-and-10 from the Jacksonville 21 with 21 seconds left; that necessitated a spike and brought on the field goal unit with 4 seconds left. Goff opened the drive with a 20-yard pass to Marvin Jones over the middle and picked up two more first downs on throws to rookie tight end Sam LaPorta.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.