LANDOVER, Md. – Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson plays for “The Birds,” but the “double bird” he flashed following his ejection from Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders will likely have him hearing from the league office.
Gardner-Johnson received his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the officials with 11:24 left in the third quarter. He picked up his first as the television broadcast went into a commercial break, despite Commanders wideout Dyami Brown shoving Gardner-Johnson’s helmet off.
That was one of several skirmishes between the teams in a game the Eagles played without quarterback Jalen Hurts, who left in the first quarter with a concussion. Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter and linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. were flagged for unnecessary roughness penalties.
Gardner-Johnson intercepted Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels near the end of the first half on an overthrown pass in the middle of the field. He had one tackle before the Commanders and Eagles once again engaged in some post-play disagreements, and Gardner-Johnson drew another unsportsmanlike conduct flag for something he said.
‘He was taunting the players,’ referee Shawn Smith explained in the pool report with a member of the Pro Football Writers Association.
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As he walked toward the tunnel with Eagles chief of security Dom DiSandro, Gardner-Johnson threw his gloves in frustration and flipped both middle fingers in the direction of the cheering Washington crowd.
Asked about the ejection, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said ‘they called what they called.’
‘We all have to be better there,’ he told reporters. ‘It starts with me.”
Gardner-Johnson did not meet with the media after the game, but Eagles safety Reid Blankenship said his teammate didn’t say anything nefarious.
‘I was right there,’ he said. ‘But when you’re on the hot spot, things happen.
‘At the end of the day, I have my dude’s back.’
Commanders head coach Dan Quinn described the game as an emotional rollercoaster in both the way the score went back-and-forth during a last-minute 36-33 victory for Washington and the persistent beefs between the teams.
‘I wanted us to make sure to keep our emotion, but also, this is living in the NFL,’ Quinn said. ‘And so it isn’t gonna go good (always). There’s gonna be tough deals and bad moments, and you stay in the fight and keep going.’
These things are expected within the NFC East, especially with the division crown on the line. Washington’s victory prevented Philadelphia from clinching first place and took the Commanders a step closer to accomplishing their own postseason dreams.
“It’s a divisional game. It is what it is,’ right guard Sam Cosmi said. ‘Of course it’s going to get chippy. It always does. We don’t like them, and they don’t like us. It’s how it’s always been. I feel like it will be like that for however long the rest of football is gonna go.”