Earlier this week, Detroit Lions defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson took a veiled shot at Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Heading into his team’s Divisional Round matchup with the Buccaneers, Gardner-Johnson complimented Tampa Bay’s receivers…while knocking Mayfield in the process.
“This group probably is one of the better groups we done faced all year,” Gardner-Johnson said, via Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press. “If you give that Tampa group a good quarterback, that’s a great group. [Mike] Evans, [Chris] Godwin, [Russell] Gage, that’s a great group. I played against them for real.”
Here’s the thing: Gage has not played all season long, as he suffered a season-ending knee injury all the way back in training camp. So clearly, Gardner-Johnson hasn’t paid much attention and was just looking to ruffle Mayfield’s feathers.
Mayfield was made aware of Gardner-Johnson’s comments on Wednesday and responded.
“I don’t think he’s really watched film because he mentioned Russell Gage,” Mayfield said of Gardner-Johnson, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “We love Russell but Russell hasn’t played a snap all year for us. He must be going off preseason stuff that the media was talking about. He didn’t play our first game so I’m excited to see him. I think he’s a really good player. He has been for a while. He’s been an impactful guy on every team he’s been on. So he’s a good player, but yeah, he’s got to do a little bit more film study.”
The fact of the matter is that Baker Mayfield has been terrific this year. He threw for 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 64.3 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 94.6 during the regular season. Then, in Tampa Bay’ Wild Card Round playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Mayfield went 22-for-36 with 337 yards and three touchdowns.
The Buccaneers will face the Lions in Detroit this Sunday.
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