The strong bond stabilizing the back end of Eagles' No. 1 defense

It has become a common scene in the Eagles’ locker room after wins this season.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson will go into his locker and pull out an impressive diamond-laden chain and pendant and hang it around the neck of Reed Blankenship, who then poses for a camera. It’s good fun and for Blankenship it’s the best of both worlds.

“I’d rather wear his jewelry than wear my own,” he said. “I’m fortunate for him letting me wear it.”

Blankenship and Gardner-Johnson are pretty different in some ways but are really similar in others. And the two Eagles’ starting safeties, who hold down the back end of the No. 1 defense in the NFL, have grown immensely close over the last few years.

After Gardner-Johnson returned to Philly in free agency, they have been the Eagles’ starting safety duo all season. And they’ve grown even closer.

“That’s my guy,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I call him Ed Reed Blankenship. Next best friend I got. He’s a best friend to me. That’s my dawg to me.”

Just the mention of Gardner-Johnson elicits a wide smile from Blankenship.

“I don’t like him,” Blankenship can barely get out before laughing. 

“It’s just one of these bonds that just can’t get broken,” he continued. “It’s like an everyday thing, you start getting closer and closer. That’s what you want to have. We kind of feed off each other. He does all the talking and I let him do it. He does the talking for me. We just have that relationship, everybody just runs off each other.”

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni preaches connecting all the time. It’s one of his core values and it seems to be the one he cares about most. Sirianni always says the best teams aren’t just the most talented ones. The best teams are the talented ones who have a special bond.

It’s clear that the Eagles’ starting safeties have taken that message to heart.

What has allowed them to get so close?

“Respectfully, we see past the racial barrier,” Gardner-Johnson explained. “A lot of people don’t understand it’s tough to connect with people that’s not your race or skin tone but I feel like people overlook aspects of his game. Certain people don’t believe in a caucasian corner or that a white guy can play defensive back. You know, because the majority of this position is Black.

“But just seeing somebody like him play f—ing phenomenal week in and week out and be able to communicate on and off the field. You don’t see too many guys in his position that’s not a minority. I’m not coming at it from a disrespectful way. I’m saying, you got guys like Harrison Smith, Eric Weddle, my guy Jeff Heath from the Cowboys. I played with Jeff. The more you get to know those guys, you see they can do the same things we can do. 

“And it’s amazing in general just how good of a person he is. On and off the field. You can talk to him about anything. The only reason I break it down that way is that being in the situation he’s in and making that jump for a safety, it’s good. Seeing him play last year at a high level, he’s a great player.”

Getting a chance to play alongside one another is a bit of a full-circle moment for Blankenship and Gardner-Johnson.

Back in 2022, Garder-Johnson was traded to the Eagles just before the start of the season. That was the same year Blankenship was a relatively unknown undrafted rookie who had to fight just to earn a spot on the roster. Blankenship’s first starts in the NFL came that year when Gardner-Johnson missed time with injury.

Blankenship remembers how willing Gardner-Johnson was to help him during the 2022 season and then realized he’s still doing it now.

“He’s still always giving me tips,” Blankenship said.

Gardner-Johnson said he’s proud of Blankenship’s success even if he doesn’t always verbalize it to his teammate. But he appreciates the relationship and how much it has grown.

All that bonding helps on the field.

The Eagles’ defense since the bye week has been fantastic and Blankenship and Gardner-Johnson are No. 1 and 2 on the team in interceptions. Blankenship leads the team with three and Gardner-Johnson has two.

And with some young players and lineup changes in the secondary, it has been helpful to have both safeties on the field together for every single game so far this season. It has brought a ton of stability to the back end of the defense. 

“Depending on how the game goes or how the day goes,” Gardner-Johnson said when asked about how leads on the back end. “If I feel like it’s his day to be the leader, I let him lead the day. And if he feels like it’s my day to lead, I’ll lead the group. But in reality, me and him work together in getting the guys set and getting everybody playing fast. 

“Right now, I think that’s what we’re doing as a back end. They depend on me and him to get things done and we’re doing a phenomenal job with our linebackers and our secondary and our corners just to make sure we’re on the same page.”

They have definitely been on the same page on the field this season.

But it really starts off the field.

“If you have a bad relationship off the field, you’re not going to do anything on the field,” Blankenship said. “Not just us two, it’s with everybody in the secondary, everybody in the defense, everybody in the offense. We have this bond. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. I guess people can see it.”

The young safeties definitely see it. Because the two starters are setting a great example and the rest of the room follows.

“It starts with them,” backup safety Tristin McCollum said. “They’re the head communicators on the back end and for the defense. Having a strong connection on the field and off the field is important for us. And it’s obviously important to them because they take it serious.

“They have a lot of influence. Them getting along and having good communication inspires the rest of the guys to follow suit.”

Fellow safety Sydney Brown knows what it’s like to play football with family. He and his twin brother Chase played together in high school and college so he might be better suited than anybody to speak to how relationships help on the field.

Brown sees how these tight bonds help.

“When you’re closer with someone, you’re willing to do more for them,” Brown said. “I think it’s a product of every relationship. Just think about your family, what you’d do for them, especially when you’re on the football field and how you would help them if you could. I kind of relate it to that.”

Both Blankenship and Gardner-Johnson are under contract beyond this season and they’re both still young. Blankenship is 25 and Gardner-Johnson is 26. So they could be a long-term starting duo for the Eagles.

The future is hard to predict, though, so they’re cherishing their moments together.

They also cherish the differences and the similarities between them.

“I feel like we’re just people that mesh with everybody,” Blankenship said. “It’s what you’ve gotta have. I feel like that’s the right type of personality you have to have on this team and I feel like everybody on this team has that. Everybody just likes each other. We play the game with everybody.”

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