Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson has torn into former Philly defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon after the new Arizona Cardinals head coach opened up on what went wrong defensively for his old team in the Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaking to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Gannon, who was hired by the Cardinals just two days after losing Super Bowl LVII on February 12, touched base on defensive errors in judgement in last month’s narrow 38-35 loss.
‘[The Chiefs] made a lot of good plays in the second half, and we weren’t able to get stops when we needed to,’ the 40-year-old said.
‘I obviously could have done a lot better job at coaching a couple of things that I wanted out of the calls, so tough to swallow when you look back at that because it’s such a big state and we didn’t get it done.’
Gannon’s comments didn’t go unnoticed with Gardner-Johnson, who slammed his former coach for the team’s lack of preparation on defense, especially in the second half of last month’s big game. The Eagles conceded 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, 25, slammed Philly’s ex-defensive coach Jonathan Gannon
Gardner-Johnson hinted at the team’s defense being badly coached ahead of Super Bowl LVII
Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon made his Super Bowl remarks at the NFL Combine
‘You ain’t put us in position to make plays,’ Gardner-Johnson wrote on Twitter. The 25-year-old is the league’s interceptions co-leader (6) along with Minkah Fitzpatrick, of the Steelers; Justin Simmons, of the Broncos; and Tariq Woolen of the Seahawks.
In the Super Bowl, Gardner-Johnson recorded four tackles against Patrick Mahomes and Co., though it was no match for the quarterback’s 13-of-15 completed passes for two touchdowns in the second half with the Chiefs scoring on each possession.
What’s more is that Mahomes was playing with an ankle injury, which worsened right before the half. The Eagles were leading 24-14 at the interval in Glendale, Arizona.
Since Gannon’s departure, Philadelphia has struggled to find a replacement though the team officialized the arrival of Sean Desai as its new defensive coordinator on Tuesday, hiring him away from his role as associate head coach with the Seahawks.
Philly also promoted quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson to offensive coordinator, replacing Shane Steichen after he left to become head coach of the Colts. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni praised Johnson’s work with NFL MVP finalist Jalen Hurts over the course of last season.
‘The trust was automatically there. Sometimes you have to develop the trust. A lot of times you have to develop the trust, but that was there,’ Sirianni said. ‘And then with that, Brian’s great with, not just Jalen, with everybody.’
‘He can adapt and just be able to connect with anybody on our roster. And that’s offensively and defensively. And that’s one thing that I think Brian’s special at.’
The Eagles also named Alex Tanney as the new quarterbacks coach, Marcus Brady as senior offensive assistant and T.J. Paganetti as run game specialist/assistant tight ends coach.
The Eagles have hired Sean Desai as the team’s new defensive coordinator to replace Gannon
