Tag: CJ Gardner-Johnson

Seahawks heading into Lions den environment in Week 2

Even though the season began just a week ago today, the Seattle Seahawks are already in serious jeopardy.

There’s no sugar coating it. Even though the season began just a week ago today, the Seattle Seahawks are already in serious jeopardy. Heading into their Week 2 matchup with the Detroit Lions, Seattle is 0-1 and they’ve already lost their starting right tackle Abe Lucas – who was placed on injured reserve yesterday. Left tackle Charles Cross may also be unable to play this week and he did not participate in practice on Wednesday.

As if their performance in Week 1 and the subsequent injury news wasn’t bad enough, the Seahawks will be facing a Lions team that is on the rise. After beating the Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Week 1, this Detroit team looks better than they have at any time in the last 30 years. As such, you can expect Lions fans to be positively jacked at Sunday’s game.

Detroit’s all-purpose-DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson isn’t helping matters. Apparently he’s encouraged Lions fans to wear blue ski masks to Ford Field. Supposedly they are sold out on Amazon, indicating a lot of fans in attendance may be wearing them.

The Seahawks have to anticipate an extremely loud environment and they will have to be sharp with their silent counts – made all the more difficult by the potential absence of two starting offensive linemen.

Even before we knew Lucas was going IR and Cross might also be out, the Lions opened as 5.5 point favorites. Given the way these two teams are headed that’s an appropriate spread. If we go back to last season, the Seahawks have now lost seven of their last 10 games, while the Lions have won eight of their last 10.

More Seahawks Wire stories

Where Seahawks rank in 10 key stats after Week 1

PFF grades for all 32 starting quarterbacks Week 1

This class of 2025 safety is visiting the Swamp in March

The Gators are getting one of the top safeties in the class of 2025 on campus this spring for his first trip to the Swamp.

The Florida Gators offered four-star Good Counsel (Olney, Maryland) safety [autotag]Faheem Delane [/autotag] back in January, and now he’s locked in a March visit with the team.

Gators Online initially reported that Delane had plans to visit Florida in the “first weekend of March,” at the beginning of the month. Almost two weeks later, 247Sports confirmed that report with a more firm March 4 date.

This will be Delane’s first trip to the Swamp, but he’s been in touch with outside linebackers coach [autotag]Mike Peterson[/autotag] for a while now. Delane is looking forward to meeting him in person and getting to meet more of the staff.

Plenty of Power Five programs are pursuing Delane. Alabama, FSU, LSU, Ohio State and Miami are just a few names that have offered him a scholarship so far. As an elite member of the class of 2025, he’s likely to pick up a few more over the next two years.

It’s good for Florida to get started on Delane early, and a visit should give him a better idea of whether UF is the right fit for him or not. He already emulates former Gator [autotag]CJ Gardner-Johnson[/autotag] on the field, which is a good sign for Florida.

Delane is not yet ranked by 247Sports, but On3 and Rivals have him listed as a four-star recruit. He’s currently No. 18 overall on the On3 consensus and is No. 3 among safeties in the class of 2025.

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Jameis Winston joins team drills and more key takeaways from Saints’ Aug. 22 practice

Saints QB Jameis Winston took team drill snaps today, marking a big milestone in his return to action. Key takeaways from Monday’s practice, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

As the New Orleans Saints returned to their home facility Monday on Airline Drive, they also returned to familiar ways. The defense again dominated the day. Star players like defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson and linebacker Demario Davis made plays and barked loudly and consistently at the offense throughout practice. The intensity of the day was driven by that unit. Here are our key takeaways from Monday’s practice, including those highlight defensive moments, but a very important step forward for the offense by quarterback Jameis Winston.

Anthony Miller fined for throwing punch at CJ Gardner-Johnson in wild-card game

Anthony Miller and CJ Gardner-Johnson have been fined for their scuffle in last week’s Bears-Saints wild-card game.

There was plenty of ugly in the Chicago Bears’ wild-card loss to the New Orleans Saints. But perhaps the ugliest was an inexcusable unsportsmanlike penalty on Bears receiver Anthony Miller, who threw a punch at Saints safety CJ Gardner-Johnson.

Both Miller and Gardner-Johnson have been fined for their role in the scuffle — Miller was fined $8,589 for unnecessary roughness and Gardner-Johnson fined $15,000 for unnecessary roughness.

What made it even more inexcusable was the fact that Miller — and the entire team — were warned about Gardner-Johnson’s antics. Matt Nagy took 10-15 minutes to show highlights of Gardner-Johnson instigating things with different players. Bears players were warned, and Miller still reacted.

Miller was ejected from the game, which hurt due to Darnell Mooney’s absence with an ankle injury. It was the second time Gardner-Johnson has gotten a Bears receiver ejected from a game this season. He did the same with Javon Wims, who was suspended for two games.

Not that it’ll come as any surprise, Bears tight end Cole Kmet was not fined for flipping the ball at an official, something he was flagged for as the refs believed he was tossing it at an opposing player.

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Anthony Miller was warned about C.J. Gardner-Johnson

The Bears took the time to reinforce the importance of not responding to CJ Gardner-Johnson’s tactics – and Anthony Miller did it anyway.

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The Chicago Bears’ wild-card game against the New Orleans Saints had shades of the teams’ meeting in Week 8. And it wasn’t just Chicago’s offensive struggles — they mustered just three points for the first 59:59 on Sunday.

For the second time this year, a Bears wide receiver took the bait from Saints safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and was ejected as a result.

In the first meeting, it was Javon Wims. Gardner-Johnson swiped his mouthpiece, and Wims threw a couple of punches on the next series. He was ejected and suspended for two games.

History repeated itself on Sunday when Anthony Miller was ejected from the game after throwing a punch at Gardner-Johnson in the third quarter after the Saints safety was mouthing off.

You’d think that Miller would’ve learned from what happened with Wims. Miller even addressed the incident last week leading up to the game.

“Guys like that do what they do,” he said.

Gardner-Johnson’s reputation certainly precedes him, and he’s known for taunting receivers on an almost weekly basis — even his teammate Michael Thomas, who threw a punch at him in an October practice.

Matt Nagy said the Bears took the time to reinforce the importance of not responding to Gardner-Johnson’s tactics. On Wednesday, he showed his team clips of Gardner-Johnson taunting other players.

The message was clear: Don’t engage. Miller did anyway.

After Wims was ejected and suspended for throwing punches, he was lucky to keep his job. Now, Miller has done the same — during a playoff game — and it’s not hard to believe that with his behavior, and his performance this season, that we have seen the last of Miller in a Bears uniform.

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Saints S CJ Gardner-Johnson gets another Bears receiver ejected

Bears WR Anthony Miller was ejected for throwing a punch at Saints S CJ Gardner-Johnson following a play in the third quarter.

Believe it or not, the Chicago Bears had a chance to beat the New Orleans Saints in Sunday’s wild-card game. Only they’ve failed to capitalize on countless opportunities, have been completely undisciplined and have beat themselves on countless occasions.

One of those came in the third quarter when Bears receiver Anthony Miller was ejected for throwing a punch at Saints safety CJ Gardner-Johnson following a play in the third quarter.

Does that name sound familiar? It should. Gardner-Johnson was the one that instigated things with receiver Javon Wims back in Week 8, where Wims retaliated by throwing a couple of punches his way.

Gardner-Johnson has been an instigator, that much is obvious. But the Bears have been warned about him, especially considering what happened with Wims earlier this season.

Miller has been a disappointment in his third season. While he has all the potential in the world, the Bears can’t continue to hope for him to take the next step.

The Bears trail the Saints 14-3 in the third quarter.

 

Bears WR Javon Wims is back on the active roster following roster exemption

It sounds like Chicago is giving WR Javon Wims another chance as he’s officially back on their active roster following a roster exemption.

The Chicago Bears had a decision to make regarding wide receiver Javon Wims. The Bears were granted a roster exemption for Wims following the lifting of his two-game suspension after he threw punches at New Orleans Saints defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

It wouldn’t have been a surprise if the Bears decided to part ways with Wims following his actions. But it sounds like Chicago is giving Wims another chance as he’s officially back on their active roster following that roster exemption.

Wims was provoked by Gardner-Johnson, who has a reputation for running his mouth and getting into it with receivers. He was the one that got into a fight with Saints receiver Michael Thomas at practice.

And Gardner-Johnson’s reputation was something that certainly preceded him as receivers coach Mike Furrey warned Wims and the Bears’ receivers to steer clear of him prior to them taking the field when Wims went after Gardner-Johnson.

“I called Javon that night when I got home after the game and I told Javon, I said the most disappointing thing that occurred from that event was the fact that I just sat there on the bench prior to that play and told every single one of you, ‘Do not get involved with 22. Do not retaliate. Don’t put your hands on him. Don’t head-butt him. Get back in the huddle.’” Furrey said. “So the way I handled that, the biggest thing was the communication to learn a lesson – that when someone’s trying to protect you from maybe ruining your career, you need to listen.

“It’s unfortunate that that situation happened, but I think it’s even more unfortunate and disappointing that we addressed it right before it happened. That was the most disappointing part about it.”

The Bears were down to just Allen Robinson, Darnell Mooney, Anthony Miller and Riley Ridley at receiver with Wims’ serving his suspension.

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Bears need to decide whether to keep or cut WR Javon Wims

With Javon Wims reinstated after a 2-game suspension, the Bears have a decision to make – add Wims to the active roster or part ways.

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Chicago Bears receiver Javon Wims has missed the last two games due to a suspension following his actions against New Orleans Saints defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

Gardner-Johnson snatched Wims’ mouthpiece on the series prior to that, and apparently Wims stewed on the bench for 11 minutes before punching Gardner-Johnson twice, in the helmet, in Chicago’s Week 8 loss.

Wims’ actions cost the Bears 15 yards and cost himself two games without pay. Now, the NFL has reinstated Wims after he missed games against the Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings.

The Bears received a roster exemption from the NFL, which expires Thursday. Now, the Bears have a decision to make — add Wims to the active roster or part ways.

While Gardner-Johnson is certainly no saint, Wims can’t act like he did. It doesn’t help that Bears receivers coach Mike Furrey even warned Wims and the rest of Chicago’s receivers to avoid Gardner-Johnson.

“I called Javon that night when I got home after the game and I told Javon, I said the most disappointing thing that occurred from that event was the fact that I just sat there on the bench prior to that play and told every single one of you, ‘Do not get involved with 22. Do not retaliate. Don’t put your hands on him. Don’t head-butt him. Get back in the huddle.’” Furrey said. “So the way I handled that, the biggest thing was the communication to learn a lesson – that when someone’s trying to protect you from maybe ruining your career, you need to listen.

“It’s unfortunate that that situation happened, but I think it’s even more unfortunate and disappointing that we addressed it right before it happened. That was the most disappointing part about it.”

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