C.J. Gardner-Johnson weighs in on Eagles' Super Bowl surface problems: 'Run that bowl back on legit grass'

Detroit Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson weighed in on the Super Bowl LVII playing surface issues Monday, saying he wants to “run that bowl back” on real grass.

“Man pre-game I went through 3 different cleats!!” Gardner-Johnson tweeted. “Even the studs wasn’t working explain that please.”

He added: “Run that bowl back on legit grass, the Dline SMASH that Oline I’m sorry.”

There’s been a lot of conversation about the field conditions at State Farm Stadium in Arizona for this year’s Super Bowl — a 38-35 Kansas City Chiefs victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. The NFL reportedly blamed the Super Bowl LVII slipping issue on the field on the player’s cleats, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

“The NFL has an unofficial excuse for the situation, one that has been communicated when owners ask about it,” Florio wrote. “Per a league source, the league blames the players for not wearing the right shoes. (The Eagles changed their cleats — and it didn’t seem to matter).

“Setting aside the fact that there should have been no reason for the teams to anticipate needing different types and sizes of cleats for a game that supposedly will be played under pristine conditions, the manner in which the field was torn up during the game shows that, regardless of whether the teams were able to properly adjust, the field never, ever should have been in that condition.”

Eagles’ Brandon Graham chimes in on slippery turf in Super Bowl

The Super Bowl field conditions were a hot button issue in the minds of many Eagle fans, who said it was a big reason why Philadelphia came up short. Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham recently acknowledged it was a problem.

“You need that traction to be able to get off the block. And we were slipping a lot,” Graham said in a recent interview on “Sports Take” with Derrick Gunn & Rob Ellis. “I don’t make excuses. I just know that that’s what was being talked about. Us trying to get out of our own head a little bit, too… I’m telling you that O-line, they got blessed, I’ll say that.”

Graham added: “When we looked at the film, man, it was a couple of times where it was if [Josh Sweat] don’t slip, boy, [there would’ve been a] strip sack. Oh my God, especially that first drive when [Patrick Mahomes] threw it across the middle to [Travis Kelce]. He was right there. He slipped. We could not believe it …

“When we finally looked at the film, I finally looked at it [and] was just like, ‘Man, oh man. But you know, like I said, credit to Kansas City. It’s all love, you know what I’m saying. Them boys played too, they played on that surface too.”