Jets' Sauce Gardner Claps Back at Asante Samuel Sr.: 'You Woke Up Tweeting About Me'

Former Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel Sr. decided to mess around on social media, and New York Jets star Sauce Gardner made sure he found out.

Samuel, apparently upset that Derek Stingley Jr. was left off the All-Pro team, posted 2023 stats for the two cornerbacks, which prompted Gardner to respond that he "woke up tweeting about me before you brushed your teeth."

Gardner was voted to the All-Pro first team for the second consecutive year. DaRon Bland of the Dallas Cowboys was the other first-team cornerback. Jaylon Johnson of the Chicago Bears and Charvarius Ward of the San Francisco 49ers were on the second-team.

Stingley finished eighth among all cornerbacks in the voting from the Associated Press panel. He received one first-place vote and five total points.

Despite not making the All-Pro squad, this was a great year for Stingley. It also erased any concerns Texans fans might have had after the 2022 campaign when he struggled as a rookie after being selected one pick before the Jets got Gardner at No. 4 overall.

It would be odd of Samuel to single out Gardner to make his case, except he's been going at the Jets defensive back in public for months.

It started last summer when he responded to a poll of coaches, scouts and executives conducted by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler that had Gardner ranked as the second-best cornerback in the NFL by appearing to take a swipe at him.

While there is a valid argument that Gardner wasn't as dominant this season as he was in 2022, he was still very good in ways that Samuel conveniently ignored in making his case for Stingley.

Per Pro Football Focus (h/t Michael Nania of Jets X Factor), among cornerbacks targeted at least 30 times, Gardner ranked fourth in yards per target (4.9) and seventh in yards allowed per reception (8.7). Stingley was 105th in yards per target (9.3) and 118th in yards allowed per reception (17.2).

It's also not a surprise that one of the categories Samuel focused on was interceptions. His specialty when he was playing was creating turnovers. He led the league in picks twice and had 51 interceptions in 157 career games.