Lions defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson had himself a day vs. Jaguars on Day 1 of joint practices

The biggest news for the Detroit Lions during the first day of joint practice against the Jacksonville Jaguars was injuries suffered by wide receivers Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown. But that is not to discount the day defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson had.

Gardner-Johnson, one of the team's notable free agent additions back in March, has instantly become a leader and a tone setter for the Lions' secondary and really the defense as a whole. He talks trash and brings the intensity in spades. He ramped things up on Wednesday.

After practice, Gardner-Johnson talked about his physical presence and how it can fuel his teammates.

"Lead by example and lead by action," Gardner-Johnson told reporters after practice. "Everybody wants to talk, but when you back it up you can talk as much crap as you want to. I think when I play at a high level, it feeds into my teammates."

C.J. Gardner-Johnson had himself a complete day in first practice vs. Jaguars

Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley crashed Gardner-Johnson's post-practice presser. Ridley brought his own bit of trash talk, in what seemed to be a friendly exchange after reports of plenty of back and forth between the two during practice.

After that media session, Gardner-Johnson decided it was time to go for a little bike ride.

Asked if there's a time or situation where he will wind down the intensity and stop trash talking, Gardner-Johnson had an answer that's probably not surprising.

"Sleep. Every time I wake up, like I'm cutting the car on," Gardner-Johnson explained. "Just gotta keep going until the car run on empty. But this is the gas station, so I guess I'm fueled up every day." "

Gardner-Johnson didn't have a perfect day on Wednesday, allowing a touchdown and drawing a penalty in the end zone that he protested. But he otherwise had himself a pretty nice day, on and off the practice field.