Tag: Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner

Sauce Gardner denied taking himself off the field because he didn’t want to tackle Deebo Samuel again

Sauce Gardner probably should’ve just said nothing.

From top to bottom, the New York Jets’ 2024 debut was a disaster. A 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers looked like a shell of himself. The San Francisco 49ers cut up the vaunted New York defense without much resistance.

And now, some are even questioning the toughness of one of the Jets’ best players, Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner.

Some time into the Monday Night Football broadcast, it was mentioned that Gardner had left the game, but … apparently not for any medical reason. NFL fans on Twitter eventually surmised that Gardner might have taken himself out after a hard tackle on the 49ers’ explosive Deebo Samuel. The assumption was that he didn’t want to do that specific job anymore.

Gardner would eventually return to the Jets’ defeat, but not before the cat was out of the bag. In a now-deleted post on Twitter, Gardner denied that he took himself out because he didn’t want to tackle Samuel again:

 

Listen, there are a lot of fast-moving parts in NFL games these days.

Our hyper-fixation on getting instantaneous clarifying information as a society seldom means something nefarious or duplicitous is going on behind the scenes just because we haven’t heard anything more. Seriously, folks, NFL players get hurt and have valid undisclosed reasons for leaving games all the time. Much more than you think! We shouldn’t be quickly calling their character into question just because of a sick variation on the burden of proof ideal.

With that said, Gardner could’ve handled this better in public. Either don’t address the situation at all because you don’t owe fans talking about you on social media anything, and drawing attention to it makes it a thing, or say you had the wind knocked out of you (which is what likely happened). Throwing in the cry-laughing emoji into a deleted tweet of frustration makes it seem like Gardner really did leave the game because he didn’t want to tackle Samuel.

It’s a communication misstep that he could’ve avoided.

Sauce Gardner awkwardly struggled to think of anything nice to say about Daniel Jones

Sauce Gardner realized that if he didn’t have anything nice to say, he shouldn’t say it at all.

We have entered Year 6 of the Daniel Jones experiment with the New York Giants. At this point, I’m starting to wonder if anyone reasonably expected anything to change for an awful quarterback who will probably never piece it all together. Anyone who still thinks that will happen is beyond naive.

New York Jets superstar cornerback Sauce Gardner accidentally piled on the Giants’ dilemma with Jones during an awkward press conference on Wednesday.

When asked to share an opinion about Jones after a joint practice against the Jets, Gardner first hesitated, then sputtered out that he’s a “good quarterback.” Then, for almost a minute, you could almost literally see the gears turning in Gardner’s head as he tried to think of anything else nice to say about the Giants signal-caller. Anything at all.

Eventually, Gardner kind of just trailed off about the Giants’ offense and Jets’ defense having a “competitive” period and said nothing of substance.

Oof. Look away, way-too-optimistic Giants fans:

Look, Gardner is one of the best corners in football. He’s only been in the NFL for two years and is already a two-time First-Team All-Pro. He knows a thing or two about good and bad quarterbacks. If Gardner can’t even offer up any vague, empty platitudes about Jones being a “solid” or “smart” quarterback that ultimately mean nothing, we might actually be understating how bad he is.

Needless to say, it’s shaping up to be an excruciating year for Big Blue.

Sauce Gardner ruled out for Jets Week 6 matchup vs. Eagles

The New York Jets ruled out All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner for Sunday’s Week 6 matchup against the Philadelphia #Eagles

Two of the best cornerbacks in the NFL will miss Sunday’s matchup at Metlife Stadium, as Sauce Gardner will join Darius Slay in being ruled out.

The Jets All-Pro cornerback will miss the contest with a concussion after suffering symptoms this week.

The Jets’ secondary was already thin during Friday’s practice.

Cornerback D.J. Reed (concussion) has not been cleared, and Gardner did not practice because of a concussion-related illness.

With Gardner ruled out, former Eagles’ cornerback Craig James will be tasked with slowing down A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

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NFL Week 3 Awards: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce weren’t enough to keep the Bears on TV

The Bears are so awful that even Taylor Swift can’t keep attention on them.

The Chicago Bears continue to reach new levels of futility. And their descent into darkness doesn’t seem like it’s ending any time soon.

On a visit to the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, the Bears were, quite literally, ran off the field after a half. Matters grew so grim for Chicago that Fox decided to switch off their game (a nationally televised matchup!). Mind you, dear reader, this was a game that featured Taylor Swift (and her budding romance with Travis Kelce) as well as football’s best quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.

That’s right. The Bears — the NFL’s worst team — are so dreadful that the producers of a major American sports network decided they weren’t worth keeping on the TV for the sake of live shots of one of the world’s biggest music stars. Talk about an awkward situation for the league’s charter franchise, which has now lost 14 consecutive games dating back to 2022.

If Chicago loses three more games, they’ll be tied for the seventh-longest streak in NFL history since the NFL-AFL merger in 1966. If they lose six more games, they’ll be tied for the third-longest losing streak. And if they unthinkably lose out the rest of the season — 14 games! — they will be owners of the worst losing streak the league has seen in almost six decades.

Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling many network executives will want the Bears off TVs in the coming weeks. They’re just not worth the trouble right now.

The best NFL players ages 25 and under at every position, from Jalen Hurts to Micah Parsons

Pro football’s future is in great hands with these young superstars.

Football is a young man’s game. The players who enjoy extended careers are far and few between, and truly special for a good reason.

That’s why the NFL stars who shine at a young age stick out so much. They demonstrate they can be the rare, long-term building blocks all 32 teams covet while building out their rosters. And if we take a closer look at who the league’s best young players are in a given year, it even gives us not-so-subtle hints about pro football’s future.

We’re examining the finest youthful NFL players aged 25 and under with training camps on the horizon. This list aims to set the table for some of the players we think are household names or will be recognizable as such soon enough. It’s a scientific way of gauging the league’s overall health with its essential asset — its players.

We cut off our benchmark for this list at 25 because that is when most second contracts are earned/signed. Unofficially, that age is when players begin to graduate to vested veteran status. Our criteria and respective thought processes considered everything from postseason awards, Pro Bowls and All-Pro selections and even advanced statistics.

Needless to say, the NFL is in great hands with its next wave of young stars.

Where did Darius Slay, James Bradberry land in a PFF ranking of the top 32 cornerbacks in NFL?

The Philadelphia Eagles had one CB land in the top 3 and two total in the top 15 of a PFF ranking of the top 32 cornerbacks in the NFL

The Philadelphia Eagles had a top five defense in 2022, and their talented cornerback duo played a major role in the season long success.

PFF has released their 2023 cornerback rankings, and there’s a new top dawg, with the Jets ‘Sauce’ Gardner getting the label as the NFL’s best.

Philadelphia’s Darius Slay and James Bradberry weren’t that far behind, with one landing in the top three, and another in the top 15 overall.

Eagles land in the top five of an ESPN ranking of NFL CB units and depth charts

The Philadelphia Eagles are loaded at the cornerback position and landed in the top five of an ESPN ranking of all 32 units and depth charts

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Philadelphia logged a league-high 77 sacks in 2022, and most of that success can be attributed to having two All-Pros at the cornerback position.

The Birds are stacked at the position, with Avonte Maddox being one of football’s top slot/nickel cornerbacks.

With NFL training camps fast approaching, positional and individual rankings are starting to develop, and Philadelphia will be at the top of many.

ESPN recently ranked all 32 cornerback units and depth charts, and the Eagles landed at No. 3 in Mike Clay’s high-powered list.

The Dolphins landed at No. 1 on the list after trading for Jalen Ramsey, while the fast-rising Jets are No. 2 on the list thanks to Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed.

Green Bay and Dallas rounded out the top five.

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Sauce Gardner hilariously told Aaron Rodgers he’d ‘burn the cheesehead’ if he joins the Jets

Gardner will do ANYTHING to get Rodgers on the Jets.

Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets is starting to seem more and more like a distinct possibility.

With reports that the Green Bay Packers “sure hope” the four-time MVP moves on, it’s starting to seem like Rodgers will be wearing a different shade of green next fall. Heck, even just having apparent conversations with the Jets made their Super Bowl 58 odds skyrocket.

Ever someone who couldn’t possibly ignore the tea leaves, Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner chimed in on the Rodgers-to-Jets rumor mill Tuesday. The 2022 First-Team All-Pro cornerback made a comically honest promise to Rodgers if he comes to New York:

He’ll burn the famous Packers cheesehead.

The no-pick-in-practice vow aside (there’s no way Gardner would honor this for long), let’s focus on the other part of his statement. Because that’s more pertinent.

It’s unclear whether Gardner is talking about any run-of-the-mill yellow dairy Packers headgear. But the easy assumption is that the CB is referring to the cheesehead he wore to mock the Packers after the Jets humbled them 27-10 last season. That’d be quite the memento from a stellar rookie season to get rid of.

So, the terms are clear. If Rodgers indeed becomes a Jet, Gardner will rid himself of his prized trophy from a win at Lambeau Field. And he’ll do it in a rather definitive manner, to boot.

Uh, does anyone know how (plastic) cheese burns? We might soon find out.

Allen Lazard knocking a cheesehead off Jets’ Sauce Gardner is the only visible fight from the Packers right now

“That cheesehead is SACRED!” Lazard to Gardner, probably

In a year where they expected to be championship contenders, it’s starting to look grim for the Packers (-7.5). Following two straight losses to the Giants and Jets — the latter of which was a humiliating 27-10 beatdown at home — it increasingly seems as if Green Bay has no answers to be a real player in the Super Bowl picture.

But for the young Jets — who might only be at the start of an awesome extended run together — they earned their flowers. Beating the Packers at Lambeau Field is the kind of win that young players like Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner should definitely feel emboldened to celebrate as they please.

As the Jets walked off the field on Sunday, Gardner donned a cheesehead as a clear means of trolling the Packers. This stunt evidently didn’t sit well with Allen Lazard, who seemed to run into the wrong tunnel to specifically knock the cheesehead off Gardner’s head:

You know, I don’t blame Lazard for being perturbed by an opposing player mocking the props of his team. At the same time, if you’re the Packers, you wish their players would’ve shown that kind of fight and resolve between the lines … you know, during the actual game!

At the very least, Gardner seemed to be having a blast around the field regardless:

Wear that cheesehead proud, Mr. Gardner. No one, not even the Packers’ current No. 1 receiver, can take that away from you.

Eagles to face four of the top five picks in the 2022 NFL draft

2022 NFL schedule: Philadelphia Eagles to face four of the top five picks in the 2022 NFL draft

The 2022 NFL draft is underway and not only did Philadelphia watch five targeted prospects go off the board, but they’ll face four of the five players during the 2022 regular season.

The NFL schedule is set to be released in mid-May, and the Eagles will in fact face Travon Walker, Aidan Hutchinson, Derek Stingley Jr., and Kayvon Thibodeaux during the 2022 season at some point.

Another draft hopeful, Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner went to the Jets at No. 4 overall.