The Eagles were up 24-14 early in the third quarter in Washington when C.J. Gardner-Johnson was ejected after his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of the game.
He watched helplessly in the locker room as the Commanders scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Eagles 36-33, ending their 10-game winning streak and preventing them - for the time being - from clinching the NFC East title.
And it killed him that there was nothing he could do about it.
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“You get what you get,” Gardner-Johnson said. “You get the cards, you get the hand you’re dealt.
“I think it was a learning lesson. I got to grow the hell up. This team obviously needs me to be out there. I ain't saying that like in a way as though I'm a superstar. No, like my presence being out there with the guys and having fun.”
Gardner-Johnson made up for it Sunday with two interceptions off Cooper Rush, including a 69-yard pick-6, in the Eagles’ 41-7 wipeout of the Cowboys at the Linc.
And the NFC East title and No. 2 seed the Eagles weren’t able to lock up without CJGJ last Sunday are now theirs.
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“It hurt me not being out there and seeing them lose when we could have clinched the week before,” he said. “But I had to look at myself in the mirror and understand that this is a team game, not a me-game, you know?”
Gardner-Johnson’s pick-6 - the first of his career - gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead, and his second INT came deep in Eagles territory with the Cowboys driving in what was still a 10-point game late in the second quarter. The Eagles scored three plays later to make it a 24-7 game at halftime, and the rout was on.
“For him just to come up big in that moment, especially after the week that he had last week, we needed him bad,” Jordan Davis said. “And just able to get his name clear and just to get one in his hands and
running back for a touchdown. I mean, come on, man, that's a DB's dream right there.
“And so for that guy to get that and just to understand that we're always behind him, we always got him, he got our backs, and we got his. Do it ten times over, any day.
“We all get emotional, we all have emotional times, we just understand that there’s a time and a place to do it. He understood that. He apologized to us after the game. It's water under the bridge. We're on to the next week. And he definitely made up for it this week and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Gardner-Johnson now has six interceptions, matching his total from 2022, his previous year with the Eagles. He’s the first Eagles safety with two six-INT seasons since Bill Bradley in 1971 and 1972, and his 12 interceptions in his first 28 games in an Eagles uniform are the most since Bradley had 13 more than half a century ago.
Those 12 INTs are also most by any Eagle since Asante Samuel had 23 from 2008 through 2011. Their only safety with more in the last 30 years is Brian Dawkins, who shares the franchise record of 34 with Bradley and Eric Allen.
“Coach preaches (turnovers) every day, it's something that we take heart in,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Because when we don't get the ball, we're kind of pissed off.”
The Eagles had five takeaways in Washington, and their nine takeaways against the Commanders and Cowboys are their most in a two-game span since they finished the 1999 season with 14 - seven each against the Patriots and Rams.
“I thought he responded awesome,” Nick Sirianni said. “We talk a lot about dog mentality, and what dog mentality is, is learning from your past mistakes, but (also) putting them in the past and being able to focus completely on where you’re at right now. That won’t only serve him well (just) in football, but it will also serve him well in life to be able to do that through the ups and downs of life.
“I was just really proud of him and how he responded today, how he played today. I actually saw him breaking up a couple (altercations) out there today between players.
“He’s a special dude. My two years with Chauncey, I just think he’s special. I think he’s a special guy that loves this game of football, loves his teammates, loves the people in the building. I saw him giving presents to the entire cafeteria staff this week. This guy is a special guy.”
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