New Orleans Saints Defensive Back C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Video Call with New Orleans Media
Monday, December 21, 2020

You came back in, so obviously, that was the good thing. But, what happened when you went out? Did you get kicked in the head? What happened?
"I'm good. I got hit in the head, but I'm good. Nothing crazy."

Just after, you know, getting a chance to kind of digest the game, what are your thoughts on the defense's overall performance?
"You can't ask for nothing better than that. We went out there and played our hearts out. We went around the whole damn field, sideline to sideline, endzone to endzone. To hold that type of offense to only, what was it? 30 some points? 32 points. And for us to like, hold him (Patrick Mahomes) to 250 passing yards. I mean, I'm not in the stats, but we can play anybody. The loss, it hurt, but as a whole, as a unit, as a D, we can't get down on ourselves. We did what was asked. It's just, the ball didn't fall in our favor. So, we just have to get back to the drawing board and get ready for a short week. And get ready to win on Christmas."

How did you feel like you guys held up physically playing 92 plays on defense? And as you mentioned, the spreading around the field, all over the place. How do you feel like you guys held up physically?
"We are in the NFL. It is a long season, we have to keep pushing. We have got playoffs ahead. So, we have to just stay healthy, stay together and keep fighting mentally. Because, we already know what type of season it's going to be. We're going to see them again. We're going to be healthy for that game and we are going to be ready to go. I just have a bad taste in my mouth."

The defense was on the field for 92 plays. Obviously, you missed some of those due to injury and rotation. But, how tough is that going from playing 90 plus plays and then going forward on a short week?
"It's what you have to do. You can't shy away from it. We know what we signed ourselves up for. We're used to running around. We are DBs, we are linebackers, we are D-line. We're used to running and chasing. But, this is an unordinary week, scramble drills real. But we're ready to go, man. We just have to get our feet back from under us. It's been a long time since we lost back to back. We're not going to let that happen again. Excuse my language, but, we aren't going for that. We can't complain and say, oh, 92 plays, if we get to play 150 plays and win the game, we're going to do it. So, it sounds like a lot, but we played 92 plays yesterday, so you might as well say we had 100 plays. So, it doesn't matter. We just have to continue to fight and continue to step up and continue to do what we've been doing, because as a whole, like you said, the unity of this unit, you can see it out there. We're playing together. That's a tough offense, you guys know that. It is hard to run with guys that are 4.3 speed every day. So, just got to come in on those guys from the front to the back. Everybody did their job, we did the best we can do. The ball didn't fall in our favor. So, we're going to keep working."