CJ Gardner-Johnson knows how to talk smack with the best of them, and the Lions' corner already had a little beef going with the Bucs' Baker Mayfield heading into Sunday's game. Earlier in the week, Mayfield talked with media about Gardner-Johnson, and made something of a jab about how he doesn't think the Lions' corner watches film. Gardner-Johnson then got the better of Mayfield on Sunday, intercepting the QB in the first quarter of the Lions' divisional round win, and then promptly finding Mayfield to let him know:
Tipped and picked by CJ Gardner-Johnson!
— NFL (@NFL) January 21, 2024
📺: #TBvsDET on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/frRD38ClOq pic.twitter.com/YywC0LjHRm
It didn't end there, because of course it didn't. It never ends there. Later on in the afternoon, cameras picked up the Lions corner yelling about Mayfield:
CJ Gardner-Johnson “I told ya’ll who Baker Mayfield was” pic.twitter.com/b7yOxleAkO
— Tedd Buddwell 🏀🏈 (@TedBuddy8) January 21, 2024
And would you believe it if it didn't even end there?! Yes?! Oh. Well, you're right. Because then Gardner-Johnson went on Instagram Live and sent Mayfield another, uh, personal message (warning: explicit language):
Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson on Instagram live talking about Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield:
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulli) January 22, 2024
“And I tossed that b**ch back at you, too. I hope you got it, too. Make sure you send that with the jersey.”
😯😯 pic.twitter.com/oQJB6u7krA
Going on Live to gloat is the luxury you get when you win. And while there are dozens of reasons why it's nice that the Lions are finally getting their due during this run to the NFC Championship game, maybe the best one is that Gardner-Johnson is going to get a whole new week of being able to trash talk the 49ers.