Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson has a lacerated kidney, but could still return this season

The Eagles defense will be without one of its most productive players indefinitely.

Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson suffered a lacerated kidney that will sideline him indefinitely, according to a league source who confirmed an NFL Network report.

The report suggested that Gardner-Johnson is not expected to miss the rest of the season and should not require surgery before returning to the field. Gardner-Johnson suffered the injury during the Eagles’ win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. He collided with fellow safety Marcus Epps and collapsed to the ground shortly thereafter. Gardner-Johnson was carted off after struggling to walk on his own power, clearly in a significant amount of pain.

“That’s a tough injury,” Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said Tuesday. “All injuries are tough, but really felt bad for him because he was hurting pretty good. He’s played really good football for us.”

The Eagles traded for Gardner-Johnson, 24, just before the start of the regular season and have gotten elite play from the former New Orleans Saints defensive back. His six interceptions lead the NFL, he has logged eight pass breakups, and his 60 tackles rank fourth among Eagles defenders as well.

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Gardner-Johnson still is undergoing tests, and there are a few recent examples of players that would suggest the recovery timeline varies.

Eagles tight end Zach Ertz dealt with a similar injury during the 2019 season and missed one week before returning for the team’s wild-card loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Ertz’s quick return is the outlier, though. Former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck missed six weeks with a lacerated kidney and a partial tear of his abdominal muscle in 2015.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said Monday that the team was hopeful Gardner-Johnson wouldn’t need to go on injured reserve. If he is placed on IR, he’ll miss at least four games before being eligible to return to practice.

In the meantime, the team will turn to undrafted rookie Reed Blankenship to fill Gardner-Johnson’s role in the defense. The former Middle Tennessee State standout exceeded expectations replacing Gardner-Johnson against the Packers on Sunday, pulling off a pivotal interception and six total tackles in his first meaningful playing time on defense.

“I know that my name was going to get called eventually — it’s a long season,” Blankenship said after the 40-33 win. “But I was ready for it. I was prepared for it and went in confident. I have guys in the room that are mature, and I just learned from them every day.”

Gannon added: “Reed had a very good game. He came in there, and that’s a tough spot. But our guys, like, they’re psychologically prepped for that to happen. What I mean by that is everyone that has a jersey on game day, the head coach talks about roles, everyone has a role, but that can change like that,” he said, snapping his fingers.

Safety arguably was the thinnest spot on the Eagles roster going into the season, even after the team sent two Day 3 draft picks to the New Orleans Saints for Gardner-Johnson. The former nickel cornerback is on the final year of his rookie contract and could not reach an agreement with New Orleans going into the season. He switched to an arguably more premium position with the Eagles and has been one of the best safeties in the league so far this year.

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The Eagles secondary already was without starting slot cornerback Avonte Maddox, who suffered a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve just before the Eagles’ Week 10 loss to the Washington Commanders. Maddox is eligible to return to practice after this Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans, but his timetable is unclear.

Josiah Scott has filled in at slot corner in Maddox’s absence. He also had an interception against Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, his coming off a deflection from Darius Slay on Green Bay’s opening drive.

“They’re tough, they’re smart, they have talent, and so you have that faith in them,” Sirianni said of Scott and Blankenship. “You have that faith in them that they’re going to go out and perform and do the things they need to do to help us win. I think Josiah was able to do that at times last year for us, so we’ve seen that. He was also great on special teams for us all last year and continuing into this year.”

“Sometimes you don’t get to see that live unless it is on special teams,” he added. “Every time Reed has had an opportunity to play and perform, he’s done a really good job.”