Detroit Lions' C.J. Gardner-Johnson: 'I didn't get back early' from surgery for 'a rotation'

When C.J. Gardner-Johnson returns to the Detroit Lions secondary for Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings, he'll do so as part of a three-man safety rotation with Ifeatu Melifonwu and Kerby Joseph.

It's not exactly the role Gardner-Johnson expected to have during his rehab from a torn pectoral muscle, and if he's being honest, it's not a role he's totally happy with, either.

"I’m going to be all the way thorough," Gardner-Johnson said Friday. "Getting into a rotation, I’m cool with it, but I mean — how can I say this, I don’t want to sound like a selfish or (expletive)hole, but I didn’t get back early to be in a rotation. But I'm doing what I need to do as a team player to get my body going, per say, but I’ve been ready for almost months. I guess this is when it matters."

Gardner-Johnson tore his pec on the opening drive of a Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks and underwent surgery days later.

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Doctors initially told him he'd miss six months with the injury, but he returned to practice in mid-December and is expected to be reinstated to the 53-man roster on Saturday.

Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said this week that Gardner-Johnson, Melifonwu and Joseph all will be in the playing rotation at safety going forward and that the three could play together in some packages.

Joseph opened the season as Gardner-Johnson's cohort at safety and leads the Lions with four interceptions, while Melifonwu has emerged as one of the defense's top playmakers in recent weeks.

He replaced Tracy Walker as a starter in early December and has two interceptions, three sacks and one forced fumble in his four starts.

"I’ve been playing well my whole life, so if I lost my job to other people playing well then, hey, they did their job," Gardner-Johnson said. "I mean, I’m comfortable saying I lost my job due to injury. I didn’t lose my job cause I had coverage busts. I lost my job due to injury, so respect the guys in front of me but the vet (is) back."

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Lions coach Dan Campbell acknowledged Gardner-Johnson's unhappiness with his role Friday.

He called Gardner-Johnson, one of the Lions' top free agent additions of the offseason, "a competitor" and said he and Glenn have been up front with the veteran about their plans this week.

“Look, Ducey’s a pro at the end of the day," Campbell said. "He wants to play, he wants to be a part of it, and it doesn’t mean that he has to like it but he’s going to go out there and when he’s on the field he’s going to give what he’s got and that’s the most important thing. I think as long as we’re all open and direct with each other and they know where we’re coming from and we know where they’re coming from, you don’t have to like it but you respect it."

A pending free agent after the season, Gardner-Johnson said he's not worried about what playing a part-time role in the playoffs will mean for his market value.

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His goal, he said, is "to lead these guys to a championship if I can, and the ones that ain’t never been to one or been to the playoffs, get behind me and I can show you."

"I’ll get it back," Gardner-Johnson said of his starting job. "Y’all know I got enough. It’s like, think about it, I commend my young safeties cause they need to go through this. They got to go through something they never experienced, so for them to have this hot streak it’s cool. It’s good cause now it gives them more of a, how can I say it, an edge over their opponent cause they never seen it before. Now that you’re seeing it, and you’re raised like we’ve been doing it, it’s kind of hard to stop."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' C.J. Gardner-Johnson not thrilled with safety rotation