This period of the offseason for NFL fans is like walking on egg shells as teams across the league are in their respective training camps. Any time an NFL Insider tweets about your favorite player this time of the season the thoughts are instantly negative and make you fear for the worst. As injuries at training camp continue to pile up with no clear answer, you truly hope your team doesn't have its season derailed by injury.
On Thursday Morning, the Houston Texans got troubling news as one of their biggest offseason acquisitions CJ Gardner-Johnson was carted off the field with a lower leg injury.
Texans safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was carted off with an apparent lower right leg injury, suffered during practice Thursday. https://t.co/kgBffBLWol
— ESPN (@espn) August 7, 2025
The team was having a scrimmage and CJ Gardner-Johnson attempted to tackle wide receiver John Metchie but, fell to the ground after making contact and was unable to move his lower right leg. When Gardner-Johnson had to be carted off of the field, the concerns only grew. After the practice, Head Coach DeMeco Ryan spoke to the media where he dove into how emotional it is to see a player injured like that.
"It’s heartbreaking when you see a guy go down on the field like that.. we’ll see where he is but no update at this time."DeMeco Ryan
Ryan emphasized the importance for his team to “take the time there, take a knee.. pray for him, just make sure they send their teammate off well.”
After returning to the Eagles and winning the Super Bowl, the Houston Texans went out and traded former first round pick Kenyon Green along with a 6th round pick to acquire the veteran safety and a 5th round pick. Gardner-Johnson was a massive part of the Eagles defense last season, racking up 59 tackles, a forced fumble, and 6 interceptions.
Hopefully, when medical testing is finished, the Texans and Johnson find out that their fears were overblown.
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