‘What’d I say? They’re going to fold’: C.J. Gardner-Johnson gets the last word as Bears beat Eagles
The former Eagles safety, who was jettisoned in the offseason, left the Linc a winner, and to nobody's surprise, he wasn't shy about it afterward.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson spread his arms out in celebration and walked toward the visiting locker room. The other one used to be his, in 2022 and again in 2024. The trash-talking defensive back, on his third team this year alone, came back against his former team, in his former city, and had the last laugh.
He wasn’t going to be quiet about it.
“I ain’t ever lied to y’all, and I ain’t going to start lying,” Gardner-Johnson said as he walked into the Chicago Bears’ locker room following their 24-15 victory over the Eagles. “I ain’t going to lie to y’all. What’d I say? They’re going to fold.”
The Eagles traded Gardner-Johnson, who led them with six interceptions in 2024, in the offseason along with a sixth-round pick to the Houston Texans for Kenyon Green, an offensive lineman who didn’t make their initial 53-man roster.
The Eagles, Gardner-Johnson said in a podcast interview over the summer, were “scared of a competitor.”
“Simple as that,” he told Ryan Clark on The Pivot.
Howie Roseman said the Eagles made the deal because of financial constraints.
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Gardner-Johnson, of course, hasn’t had a normal 2025 season. He was released by the Houston Texans in late September after three games. He then landed on the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad before the Bears signed him and reunited him with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who coached Gardner-Johnson in New Orleans.
But he has made an impact with a Bears team that is now 9-3 and in first place in the NFC North. Gardner-Johnson’s departure from Philadelphia was in the spotlight this week not just because the Bears were coming to town but because the Eagles are depleted at safety after rookie Drew Mukuba, the Eagles’ second-round pick, suffered an ankle fracture.
Gardner-Johnson played mostly at nickel and helped stymie a struggling Eagles offense. He finished with three tackles and one quarterback hit. What was he seeing on film entering Friday?
“Stop the run and then make them go the long, hard way,” he said.
The Eagles struggled to run the ball and couldn’t beat an opposing defense missing multiple starters through the air.
“We knew in order to win this game we’d have to compete with their defense and the best defense on the field was going to win this game,” Gardner-Johnson said.
“It’s hard to get wins in this league. To win in a stadium like this, against the defending champs, it shows you that you got to have a lot of confidence in your teammates. This team has a lot of confidence in each other. I don’t think we’re worried about scheme or who we play. We just worry about getting each other’s backs and going out there and fighting for 60 minutes. We’re going to win the game.”
Asked why he said he knew the Eagles would “fold,” Gardner-Johnson said: “Because I’ve been here before. I’ve been here before. You only wear black uniforms if you feel confident.”
Then he winked.
“I told the guys that this is one of those where you got to come in and really pin your ears back and really go play ball,” he said. “It’s going to be a physical game, short week, and it’s about who’s going to be the most physical team, and we showed it today.”
And the special feeling winning back in Philadelphia?
“We can finally close the chapter on something,” Gardner-Johnson said. “It’s good now.”
About three minutes into Gardner-Johnson’s postgame media availability, a teammate handed him a phone. A Bears public relations staffer ended Gardner-Johnson’s session, but he spoke live on a podcast with LeSean McCoy and Emmanuel Acho.
“Was you talking [trash] out there?” McCoy asked him.
“No, I got too much respect for them to even disrespect the players I played with,” Gardner-Johnson replied. “We disrespected them on defense.”
Then McCoy asked: “Was the offense too easy? Predictable?”
Gardner-Johnson leaned in close and winked. For once, there was nothing he needed to say.
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