C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s trash talk failed in Tampa. Darius Slay wants him to keep going, even if it’s ‘stupid.’
The Eagles safety isn’t going to stop — even after it blows up in his face like it did in Tampa.
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Last week on Micah Parsons’ podcast, Parsons kicked off a bit of a feud with C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who criticized Derek Carr after the Birds’ win in New Orleans. The outspoken Eagles safety called the Saints “pretenders,” adding, “They have Derek Carr. Remember that.”
A week later, it was the Eagles on the receiving end of a beatdown from another NFC South team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
And Monday, after that disappointing loss to the Bucs, the injured Dallas Cowboys linebacker invited Eagles cornerback Darius Slay onto his podcast and brought up Gardner-Johnson’s attempts to trash talk prior to the game.
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Gardner-Johnson is from the Tampa area and said pregame he was going to put “belt to [butt].” The Eagles defense promptly conceded three touchdowns in the first quarter, including one on Gardner-Johnson.
“One thing I know about 8, man, 8 is going to bring the noise,” Slay said, referring to Gardner-Johnson’s jersey number. “8 is going to bring the energy, all the trash talking that half the team’s not doing. He fulfilled that need for us. He’s got a lot of energy. He’s going to talk that trash. But, hey, if you’re going to talk, you’ve got to back it up — and if you don’t, for sure the media is going to catch.”
Some Eagles fans — and even former players — were confused why Slay would appear on Parsons’ podcast and laugh as Parsons criticized his teammate.
On the previous episode of the podcast, Parsons defended Carr after Gardner-Johnson took that postgame shot at him, which Gardner-Johnson later responded to on social media.
“I don’t know who [Gardner-Johnson] thinks he is,” Parsons said on last week’s episode. “We’ve been dealing with this cat for a while. We’ve just got to be a little bit real right here. I think Derek Carr has validated himself way before [Gardner-Johnson] has ever done, in the most respectful way. Derek Carr has been a Pro Bowl quarterback.”
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Gardner-Johnson’s trash talk didn’t work out for him against the Bucs, but Slay said he’s got his back, even if Sunday was a learning opportunity.
“You’re doing something stupid, but he’s going to do it,” Slay said. “I told him, ‘Do your thing, but hey, you know now that if you don’t perform the way you want to perform, they’re going to get back on you.’”