C.J. Gardner-Johnson says his season in Detroit was "hell"

C.J. Gardner-Johnson is happy to be back in Philadelphia. He's happier to be out of Detroit.

The safety did not enjoy his one season with the Lions, saying "everybody" in the organization lied to him about his future there.

“It was hell,” Gardner-Johnson told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I got lied to, so it was, whatever. I got told, respectfully, I was going to get brought back and didn’t get brought back. And offseason went real for me, signing back here, because I wasn’t really tripping on it. It all worked out.”

Gardner-Johnson left the Eagles in 2023 but didn't receive the long-term deal he sought and instead signed a one-year deal with the Lions. It's not the season he or the Lions envisioned.

Gardner-Johnson tore a pectoral muscle in Week 2. He returned in Week 18 and then played all three playoff games.

He calls his season in Detroit "successful" personally, but Gardner-Johnson has no fond memories of the 2023 season.

“Truthfully, like in Detroit it was hell,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I went there just to — OK, when I got hurt I was like, ‘Fuck it.’ Truthfully. That's why I didn't go rehab there.”

He spent most of his rehab in Florida and then left after the season to return to Philadelphia, happy to be out of Detroit and away from the Lions.