How Former Eagles Fared With Their New Teams in Week 1

A handful of former Philadelphia Eagles made their debuts for their new teams last week.

When you’re near the top of the mountain as the reigning NFC champions, everyone wants a piece of your roster, and that made it difficult for the Eagles to retain all of their free agents in the offseason.

Seeing our former players in other uniforms always brings mixed feelings. Some fans like to keep rooting for those guys throughout their careers, but some fans take joy in watching former Eagles fall flat once they leave Philly.

Whichever camp you fall into, let’s check in on how some former Eagles fared in Week 1.

Former Eagles Watch: Week 1

1. C.J. Gardner-Johnson

C.J. Gardner-Johnson was easily the Eagle who left on the worst note this offseason.

There was no obvious animosity when he signed with the Detroit Lions, but when he made media appearances later in the offseason he was absolutely classless in bashing the city of Philadelphia and our fans. So most people in Philly were probably hoping he’d fall flat in Detroit.

Unfortunately, it was a heck of a start to the year for Gardner-Johnson and the Lions.

Even though the Kansas City Chiefs were banged up, you can’t deny that opening the year with a Thursday Night Football win over the reigning Super Bowl champs is a big deal. Gardner-Johnson got his revenge on Mahomes and it must have felt sweet.

Gardner-Johnson himself had a pretty good game, too. He had some struggles in coverage, giving up 40 yards on 2 receptions during the three times he was targeted, but he made up for it with some stellar run defense.

Stepping up to make tackles at and near the line of scrimmage had him getting plenty of camera time to open the year, and he was clearly making an impact.

We’ll see what happens when he has to face an offense that isn’t relying on guys like Kadarius Toney to be their best playmakers, though.