What’s that old saying? Something like when your back is against the wall, you find out who your real friends are?
After an Offseason Week From Hell in which every aspect of his game and character has been questioned, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts found an unlikely ally in controversial former Eagles safety and Super Bowl champion C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Gardner-Johnson, who ran into problems during his time with the Eagles (and many other places) by probably talking when he should have said nothing, finally picked the right time to speak up in defending Hurts this week after a barrage of criticism following an anonymously-sourced ESPN article that blasted Hurts after the Eagles’ struggles in 2025.
It took 1 of the Eagles’ former foes, recently retired Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David, dissing Hurts to bring Gardner-Johnson out of the woodwork.
“Why do this …… like come on!” Gardner-Johnson wrote on his official X account after quote-tweeting David’s comments about Hurts. “People will continue to bash this man for what reason??? Plenty of other QB news we can talk about.”
Lavonte David Took Unnecessary Shot at Jalen Hurts
Say what you will about Gardner-Johnson and his various antics — if he doesn’t like you, he’s gonna tell you to your face, and at least he doesn’t kick somebody while they’re down.
“Jalen Hurts was never a guy who we were worried about when we played the Eagles,” David said during an appearance on The Arena: Gridiron. “Our game plan was just like, ‘We going make Jalen Hurts beat us.’ We’re going to keep him in the pocket, make him make his reads, understand what defense he’s seeing, and make him beat us.”
Hurts has a 57-25 record in regular-season games — a 69.5 winning percentage that puts him at No. 9 in NFL career history. He also owns NFL records for most rushing touchdowns in a single season (15), most rushing touchdowns in a postseason game (3), most single-game rushing yards by a quarterback in the Super Bowl (72), and most points scored by a single player in a Super Bowl (20).
Eagles Played in 2 Super Bowls With CJGJ, Hurts
The success Gardner-Johnson and Hurts had together is impossible to argue with.
In the 2 seasons they played together, in 2022 and 2024, the Eagles played in 2 Super Bowls, winning the latter. Gardner-Johnson led the NFL with 6 interceptions in 2022 and doubled down with 6 more interceptions in 2024.
While that all seems great on the surface, Gardner-Johnson has a long history of coming absolutely unglued during games — he’s arguably the most hated player in the NFL.
That’s the reason why, after signing a 1-year, $6 million contract with the Buffalo Bills on March 13, Gardner-Johnson is now on his 7th team in 6 seasons.
Imagine how sick the Eagles were of Gardner-Johnson to sign him to a 3-year, $27 million contract before the 2024 season, then trade him 1 month after winning the Super Bowl — a season in which, for all intents and purposes, he was 1 of their best players?
In 2024 alone, Gardner-Johnson was fined 6 times — 5 times for taunting and once for a late hit against the Saints. The Texans got so sick of Gardner-Johnson that they released him less than 1 month into the season.
Gardner-Johnson briefly spent time on the Baltimore Ravens practice squad before finishing out the regular season and making it back to the playoffs with the Chicago Bears.
“Me sitting at home, I had to really look myself in the mirror,” Gardner-Johnson told ESPN’s Courtney Cronin on November 27. “And it’s like, it’s really on me.”
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