Lions’ Dan Campbell Throws Cold Water on Potential C.J. Gardner-Johnson Return

Defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson indicated during a crazy celebration of the Detroit Lions’ Week 11 victory against the Chicago Bears that he will be returning to the field in a matter of a few weeks. But Lions head coach Dan Campbell isn’t as convinced.

Campbell didn’t rule out a Gardner-Johnson return, but he admitted the odds are stacked against the 25-year-old.

“I want to talk to the doctor that he’s talking to,” Campbell joked when asked during his November 20 press conference if Garder-Johnson will be back in the next couple weeks. “Listen, he’s is an upbeat, positive, hard-working, will-himself [guy], and that’s what we love about him.

“I don’t foresee that [return], but yet, never say never. I’m not going to do that.”

Gardner-Johnson suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. Initially after the injury, Campbell indicated there was a chance the 25-year-old could return toward the end of the season.

Campbell implied on November 20 that a Gardner-Johnson return prior to that would be historic.

“He may have mutant genes, you know, like Wolverine,” Campbell said. “There’s no telling. Believe me, that would be unbelievable. But I think it will be hard.”

C.J. Gardner-Johnson Positive He Will Prove Dan Campbell Wrong With Return

Campbell can try to slow down the Gardner-Johnson returning hype train, but it’s unlikely to matter to the defensive back.

Gardner-Johnson has been arguing on social media for weeks that he is getting stronger and closer to getting back on the field.

“I’ll be back,” he posted as a caption to a video on Instagram on September 20.

“This (stuff) makes me tear up, for real,” Gardner-Johnson said in the Instagram video. “I don’t want to cry no more. I just want to get to it. You feel me? Look at this, I’m out there playing with one arm. They can’t stop me with this (stuff). When we (talking about) tapped out, I ain’t tapped out yet. I ain’t tap out yet, bro.”

On October 13, Gardner-Johnson conveyed in a Instagram story video that he identified the NFC Divisional round as his potential return date.

Then on November 14, the defensive back posted a cryptic message on X (formerly Twitter) seemingly indicating that he could return much sooner than the playoffs.

“Time is ticking,” Gardner-Johnson posted with a purple devil face emoji.

Gardner-Johnson Records Insane Celebration During Lions’ Comeback Victory

As Lions fans likely already know, Gardner-Johnson is quite the entertainer on social media. He posted a video of himself going absolutely crazy when defensive end Aidan Hutchinson recorded a sack at the end of the fourth quarter to seal a 31-26 victory against the Bears on November 19.

During that video, Gardner-Johnson was more clear about his potential return.

“And I’ll be back,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Y’all got two weeks to get y’all s*** together. Three weeks to get y’all’s s*** together.”

Reading between the lines, the defensive back seemed to mean he would be back for the Lions-Bears rematch in Week 14. That’s in three weeks and more than a month before the division round of the NFC playoffs.

“It would be a very, very fast recovery, but I love where his head is at,” Campbell added on November 20. “You gotta think that way, and you’ve got to be positive. Because I think that leads to quicker healing if you allow yourself to think that way.”