Tyrann Mathieu may play with an extra chip on his shoulder this week.
Players typically find their own source of additional motivation. Mathieu may look back to a social media moment with C.J. Gardner-Johnson this offseason as motivation for the game between the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles.
Gardner-Johnson took issue with Mathieu having a higher overall than him in Madden. In response, Gardner-Johnson called out Mathieu and his former team. He points towards how 2022 and 2023 transpired as proof that Mathieu isn’t a better player than him.
It’s flawed logic on a couple of fronts, but most notably, Mathieu didn’t replace Gardner Johnson. He may be a safety now, but he was a nickel corner with the Saints.
Mathieu didn’t care how flawed the logic was, he fired back in tweets that have now been deleted. It’s unclear if this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, but Mathieu responded like his name had been being played with.
More than just the initial response, Mathieu began to post lists where he was ranked highly. These moments always felt like subliminal shots towards Gardner-Johnson. The posts shared the same tone as Mathieu’s direct response.
The tone was Mathieu is a veteran who has played at a high level and continues to do so. It clearly lit a fire underneath Mathieu in August, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that fire be reignited with Gardner-Johnson on the opposing side.
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