Myles Garrett guarded his words when talking about facing ex-teammate Baker Mayfield in the season opener Sept. 11. (TheLandOnDemand)
Myles Garrett tiptoes through the Baker Mayfield minefield
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Takeaways from Browns interviews and practice …
Let the gamesmanship begin.
Now that it’s official that Baker Mayfield will start for the Carolina Panthers against his former team in the season-opener on Sept. 11, the Browns are cautiously avoiding giving him any motivational slights to store in his smart phone.
On Monday, Kevin Stefanski blew off a question about Mayfield, saying he did not even see the news that he was named Carolina’s starter. “We will wait to talk about Carolina until we get there,” the coach said.
On Tuesday, defensive end Myles Garrett denied the game would be anything more special to him.
“No. I mean, he’s a former teammate, but there’s no rivalry there between me and him,” Garrett said. “There’s no rivalry between the Panthers and the Browns. Yes, he was here, but that doesn’t mean I have an added sense of urgency to get to him. I want to play my best, and whatever’s in the cards, you know, that’s it for me. If I can help my team win, if I can put them in the best position to win, I’m gonna do that. If I can get a couple sacks along the way, I’d kind of enjoy that, too.”
To his credit, Mayfield admitted the game will mean something special to him.
“Obviously, there's a lot of attachment there,” Mayfield said in Carolina. “I'm not going to sit here and be a robot and say it doesn't mean anything. It will.”
Mayfield asked to be traded after the Browns first visited Deshaun Watson in Houston to recruit him to waive his no-trade clause with the Texans.
After a long, agonizing period of uncertainty, which caused Mayfield to be team-less through the spring OTAs and minicamp season, the Browns finally traded Mayfield to Carolina on July 6. The Browns received a conditional fifth-round pick in 2024. It can turn into a fourth-round pick if Mayfield plays 70 percent of the Panthers’ offensive snaps.
When the Sept. 11 game arrives, Watson will be in the first week of an 11-game NFL suspension for violations of the personal conduct policy. So the Browns will be paying over $46 million in signing bonus and salary for Watson not to play and are picking up $10.5 million of Mayfield’s guaranteed salary to play against them. Plus, they’re on the hook for another $4.65 million for Jacoby Brissett, who will be Watson’s replacement.
Garrett conceded the Browns’ defense is going to have to pick up the slack during Watson’s 11-game suspension.
“I think it’s an opportunity. I think it’s a challenge,” Garrett said. “I feel like us as a defense has to look forward to taking on that task. Obviously, [Watson is] a very dynamic player and we might miss his presence on offense, but it’s an opportunity for us to step up to the plate and be a very dominant defense regardless of what the offense is doing.”
That starts in Game 1 against Mayfield. The quarterback was the second of Browns’ consecutive NFL No. 1 overall draft picks. He was to join Garrett as the foundation of a team that would reach the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.
“Did I expect him to win that job? I didn’t really think about it,” Garrett said. “Whether he won it or not, I knew I had to play the Panthers. I’m happy that he won it. I don’t wish any ill upon him. I wasn’t expecting to be looking at any other quarterback.”
No news, good news?
Running back Kareem Hunt is one of the few mainstream players not to be made available in the media tent all summer.
Hunt’s two-day “hold-in” to protest the Browns’ unwillingness to give him a contract extension, or trade him, has long passed. Whether or not Hunt has been placated by the Browns, the fact is he has practiced hard all through camp.
“I understand where he is obviously,” said offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. “I have nothing but good things to say about his work ethic and the way he plays. When he is out there, he is a violent runner. I understand it, obviously, but at the same time, he is under contract and we are hoping he is happy with that and plays hard for us this year, which I am sure he will.”
It remains to be seen what the Browns would do if another team inquires about Hunt’s availability in the final days before rosters are set league-wide.
The cut to 53 comes next Tuesday. The Browns could easily keep all four players from their stacked running backs room – Nick Chubb, Hunt, rookie Jerome Ford and D’Ernest Johnson – but they would have to short-change themselves at another position to accommodate that surplus.
Brownie bits
As the work intensifies to prepare Brissett and Josh Dobbs for the season, Watson will slink into a back-seat role at practice. “He will still take reps,” Stefanski said. “It may be more in show-team type looks, going against our defense in carded-type periods.” Which means Watson will be the quarterback emulating Mayfield on scout team during Carolina week. Just incredible irony there …
The Chicago Bears intend to play starters for all or most of the first half in the final preseason game Saturday night in FirstEnergy Stadium. Stefanski declines to disclose his play-time plans, but it’s logical to expect him to use a similar plan. He and Bears coach Matt Eberflus conferred on Monday about “rules of engagement” for the season dress rehearsal. “Really, you are trying to make sure that both sides can get work done, but you do not want to surprise anybody. In the last game, we were not going to go into goal-line personnel. Really any preseason game, you are not going to get into goal-line personnel and you are not going to zero-blitz the other team. Those are some of the rules of engagement in the preseason just to make sure you are getting solid work done, and you are really working together in that regard.” …
Rookie defensive end Isaiah Thomas, who’s out with a broken finger, did make it to Tulsa to see the birth of his daughter. Thomas was expected back Tuesday night …
Among the other notable players not practicing on Tuesday were cornerback Greg Newsome (hamstring), defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (undisclosed), running back Jerome Ford (undisclosed) and offensive tackle Chris Hubbard (undisclosed). Stefanski said he expects Newsome to return to practice “soon.”
