Referee says C.J. Gardner-Johnson was ejected for “basically taunting”

The Eagles safety was flagged twice for unsportsmanlike conduct against the Commanders and was forced to leave the game in the second half.

The Eagles had a rough go personnel-wise on Sunday against the Commanders, first losing Jalen Hurts and Will Shipley to concussions, and then losing safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was ejected shortly after halftime. CJGJ received two flags for unsportsmanlike conduct, with the second resulting in him being escorted to the locker room.

After the game, referee Shawn Smith was asked about the ejection, saying:

“He’s basically taunting the opponent on the second foul. He already had a first one earlier in the game that we had announced as his first towards disqualification. So, this became his second. He was taunting the players so that’s a disqualification by rule.”

Smith didn’t offer any additional details about what CJGJ said, or why it elevated to the level of taunting or an ejection.

The referee was also asked about the first penalty on the Eagles’ safety — one that resulted in the Commanders putting hands on CJGJ’s facemask. Specifically, Smith was asked if they had considered penalizing both sides on the first skirmish.

“Well, we only had the one foul.”

He said that about this moment, when CJGJ was jawing and then had his helmet pushed all the way off his head.

It obviously wasn’t ideal to lose the safety from the game, and the Eagles defense really needed him out there. But, for as much as he needs to control his emotion to avoid unnecessary penalties, the refs made some calls on Sunday that probably don’t get made nine times out of 10.