Myles Garrett still has some obtainable personal goals this season. (Cleveland Browns)
Myles Garrett: ‘I know our chances aren’t zero’
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 practice and interviews …
Myles Garrett is one of the few Browns players with a personal statistical incentive to keep playing hard over the final four games.
Nick Chubb has fallen way behind Vegas’ Josh Jacobs in the rushing derby. Jacobs leads the NFL with 1,402 yards; Chubb is third with 1,153. Cade York is 12 points from reaching 100 in his rookie season.
Despite playing through a shoulder injury suffered in one-car accident on Sept. 29, Garrett finds himself third in the NFL with 12 sacks – 2.5 behind co-leaders Matthew Judon of New England and Nick Bosa of San Francisco.
Garrett leads all AFC defensive ends in Pro Bowl fan voting (it counts one-third toward the final vote) and probably is in the conversation for NFL defensive player of the year – though he has never earned a vote in five seasons for the award.
“I think I’m in the thick of it,” he said of the quarterback sack race. “There’s four games left. There’s no reason why I can’t be at the top of the sack leaderboard. I’m going to continue to play at a high level and with high effort and give the most to these guys. At the end of the day, whatever is said and done, I gave it my all for my guys.”
Garrett also echoed some of his teammates in pointing out the team goal of the playoffs has not been mathematically extinguished, and he came with empirical evidence.
“I know our chances aren’t zero,” he said. “I heard a stat that our chances to make the playoffs right now [0.4 percent] are greater than the chances the Jets had [0.1 percent) to win with 2 minutes left in the game. So we have a chance. As long as that’s there, we’re going to do all we can.”
In defense of Joe Woods
Occasionally a defensive player comes out and questions the defensive strategy in the most recent loss. Safety John Johnson did it this week in reference to single-covering Ja’Marr Chase too much. Garrett has done it in the past, too, questioning the lack of adjustments during games.
But Garrett left no doubt that players have the back of defensive coordinator Joe Woods, whose seat is hot again over the continual inconsistent play of the disappointing defense.
There’s no “Fire Joe Woods” chatter in the locker room.
“I only hear that chatter when you’ll tell it to me,” Garrett said to reporters. “I don’t go out and look for it and it usually doesn’t find my phone.
“I don’t get much commentary in here for firing Joe Woods or [hiring a] new DC. We are what we are. He’s our DC. At the end of the day, we’re executing his calls. We have to make him right. Could there be better calls for certain situations? Of course. But he’s not perfect and neither are we. So we have to go out there and make the most of it and perform at a high level.”
No days off
Really since the bye week, Kevin Stefanski has been sensitive to “saving” certain veteran players by giving them a day off during the practice week.
Chubb is one player who rarely takes advantage of Stefanski’s freebie.
“I wouldn’t say that Nick declines, no,” the coach said. “He is a guy who takes great, great care of his body. I know he has a bunch of touches for us this season (231 rushes and 20 receptions), but once Wednesday rolls around, he feels good. Stump [Mitchell, running backs coach)] does a nice job managing his workload throughout the week.”
Stefanski said, to his knowledge, Chubb has taken only one day off from practice.
“We try to be smart with the guys – guys who have injury history or sometimes age – but there is also something to be said for just pushing through it and not feeling great but getting out there,” Stefanski said. “I think Nick, in particular, his teammates know that he is always going to be out there, he is always going to be working and he is not going to be wearing sleeves. That is just how he rolls.”
Brownie bits
One of the overlooked aspects about the transition to Deshaun Watson was the offensive line needing to adjust to Watson moving in and out of the pocket, and also in the nuances of the running game operating more out of the pistol and shotgun formations. “There’s definitely stuff you have to get used to,” guard Joel Bitonio said. “We got called for holding a couple times last week when he scrambled. We just have to know that the play can go on forever. It’s really a ‘feel’ thing. You see some of the best plays in football are when guys like Deshaun and [Patrick] Mahomes and these guys get out of the pocket and throw deep passes. We understand it’s part of the game. We just have to adjust ourselves to where ‘If this happens, just let go.’ Unfortunately, you have to live with some [holding calls] because that’s the nature of the beast.” …
Receiver Amari Cooper isn’t listed on the injury report, but his hip/core muscle injury is still bothering him. “I know he is going to be battling through it, but he looked good out there today,” Stefanski said.
