Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner hit back at his critics in a since-deleted social media post after Indianapolis was eliminated from postseason contention on Sunday.
Gardner, 25, was traded from the 1-7 Jets to the 7-1 Colts in November, only for Indianapolis to stumble to a 1-7 finish and miss the playoffs for a fifth-straight season. Gardner was limited by injuries and appeared in only four games for Indianapolis over that time, but fans have been nonetheless displeased with his performance after seeing the Colts give up two first-round picks for his services.
When some critics on social media pointed out that both the Jets and Colts went 1-7 with Gardner on their roster this season, the former fourth-overall draft pick had seen enough.
After the Colts’ 23-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Gardner boasted on social media that he only has 32 targets this season, although he stopped short of citing where he found this information. Regardless, his point was that opposing quarterbacks had grown reluctant to throw in his direction, which isn’t a preposterous theory for a third-year player who’s already earned All-Pro honors twice.
‘[I] only have 32 targets,’ he wrote. ‘[There] are [zero cornerbacks] that only had 32 targets thru 600+ snaps. [I] only had 22 targets thru 7 games. I DO NOT GET TARGETED AS MUCH AS 99.8% OF OTHER [cornerbacks] in the league.. and only like 50% of those [passes] got completed.’
Gardner went on to boast that he’s only allowed two touchdowns this season, one of which he blamed on a ‘busted coverage’ during his time with the struggling Jets.
Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner hit back at his critics in a since-deleted social media post after Indianapolis was eliminated from postseason contention on Sunday
Gardner defended himself, only to delete the post. Regardless, grabs quickly went viral
‘ONLY 208 yards allowed all year…some WRs go for 100+ in one game,’ he continued, adding: ‘am i missing something?’
He then offered his ‘opinion’ that an elite cornerback who can ‘take away half the field’ from opposing offenses is ‘equivalent to having a nice QB.’
The former University of Cincinnati standout quickly deleted the post.
It’s unclear if he will be active in Week 18 against the Houston Texans after aggravating a calf injury in Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars.
Gardner signed a four-year, $120 million extension with the Jets prior to the season, only to get traded four months later for receiver Adonai Mitchell and two future first-round picks (2026 and 2027).
