![\"johnson-1.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/johnson-1.jpg\")
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Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Houston Texans<\/a> safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was carted off the practice field Thursday with a lower leg injury<\/a> that initially raised concerns about his knee. Tests have since confirmed his ACL is intact, but further evaluations are scheduled to determine the full extent of the injury,\u00a0according to ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 27-year-old Gardner-Johnson sustained the injury during practice, prompting a tense moment as the field fell silent and teammates took a knee, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2<\/a>. The Texans, already dealing with a depleted secondary due to safety Jimmie Ward’s<\/a> ongoing recovery from a foot injury, are anxiously awaiting further medical evaluations to determine the full extent of Gardner-Johnson’s injury.<\/p>\n “It’s heartbreaking when you see a guy go down on the field like that and doesn’t get up quicker,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans<\/a> said after practice “I’m always nervous as a head coach anytime I see anybody hit the ground. It’s tough to watch. So we’ll see, we’ll evaluate C.J. and see where he is, but no update at this time.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n C.J. Gardner-Johnson injury: New Texans safety carted off field; coach DeMeco Ryans says ‘it’s tough to watch’<\/p>\n \n Jordan Dajani <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Gardner-Johnson was a key acquisition for Houston this offseason after being traded from the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> in exchange for offensive guard Kenyon Green<\/a> and a late-round draft pick swap. He had signed a three-year, $27 million deal with the Eagles last March. His departure from Philadelphia was reportedly tense, with Gardner-Johnson calling himself a “test dummy<\/a>” for former Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and suggesting the team was “scared of a competitor<\/a>.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Known for his versatility and physical style of play, Gardner-Johnson has been a standout defensive back since entering the NFL<\/a> as a fourth-round pick out of Florida in 2018. Over six seasons with the New Orleans Saints<\/a>, Detroit Lions<\/a> and Eagles, he has amassed 304 tackles, 51 passes defended, and 18 interceptions, including tying for the league lead with six picks in 2022.<\/p>\n While the Texans are relieved to hear Gardner-Johnson’s ACL remains intact, further testing will determine his playing status heading into the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imagn Images Houston Texans safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was carted off the practice field Thursday with a lower leg…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[8099,3607,113,7,221,253,52557,2368,6052,8295,55,6,109,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-270423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-acl-injury","9":"tag-demeco-ryans","10":"tag-detroit-lions","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-houston","13":"tag-houston-texans","14":"tag-houston-texans-safety-c-j-gardner-johnson","15":"tag-houstontexans","16":"tag-jimmie-ward","17":"tag-kenyon-green","18":"tag-new-orleans-saints","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","21":"tag-texans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114990522401879389","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"C.J.](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/jc.jpg\")
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