DE Myles Garrett (10.1.23)
See you’re in a boot? What’s up with that?
“You know, got rolled up a little bit. They’re trying to take precautions. Wasn’t my first choice, but I’m just trying to do what I can to get back as soon as possible.
Ankle?
“No, foot.”
Do you expect to be back ready when the Bye is over?
“I’ll be ready.”
Myles, you guys have played three division opponents over the first four games. This week, Week five Bye isn’t always the best of things—a little early but for this team is it maybe coming at the right time just to allow some guys to heal and kind of reset for the rest of the season?
“Just time to reset, like you said, but get our priorities straight. We were out of sorts and we didn’t execute how we should have. You know, how we prepared all week, it’s not what we displayed today. And we know we just got to continue to work on putting it all on the field and putting it all together when the time calls.”
You guys started the game defensively really strong. What happened in the second quarter?
“Hard to tell. You got to go watch the film. Not like they were running anything we hadn’t seen. It was just a matter of being where we needed to be, making our fits, making hits. There was a lot of missed tackles out on the field. If you’re in the right place and you’re missing tackles, it doesn’t matter how well you’re executing.”
Did you feel like there was a recoup in the second half?
“Yeah, started to really get it together and no guys realized it was really just one play away. Not from getting back in the game, but as far as just like keeping them from making that eight, nine-yard play, that first down, and having a two, three-yard gain if you’re out of your gap. But no, you make that tackle, we can live to see another down. And we didn’t get them to enough third downs to make those big plays and get them off the field, get the ball back for offense.”
What were your initial thoughts when you first discovered that Deshaun (Watson) wasn’t going to be able to play in this game?
“We roll, regardless know who’s out there. We got to continue to play at the highest level we can. It’s not like it’s going to change how we attack on defense or their game plan on offense. They’re going to continue to try to attack that team 50-50.
Did you feel like maybe you guys might have to score or pick it up a notch or do anything else to try to and support?
“Do what we always do, that’s attack it as hard as fast as we can and make plays. We had some lapses and they took advantage, but no, that’s what that team does. They’re very explosive, starts in their backfield and all credit to them. They made it happen today.”
What do you think this defense is after four games?
“I think we are I think we’re just fine. It’s a very dynamic offense. We said that at the beginning of the week and it proved true today. But there’s nothing that we were unprepared for, just didn’t execute as we should have.”
Myles, you put an emphasis, obviously on Lamar (Jackson) and stopping him. What was the execution breakdown in terms of trying to contain him?
“I mean, doing our best to contain him. We let the running back run a little bit too wild and break tackles. He was running very physical and aggressive and he was making guys miss breaking through tackles and we got to be there to get him down. It’s got to be a team effort attacking those guys in the backfield.”
What is it about the team makeup that makes you confident that you can come off this one, go into the Bye and not let it fester and kind of learn from things?
“Not a single one of those guys is going to hold this with them. No, they’ll have flushed it by the end of the day tomorrow. Go through the film, look at how we could execute better, look at how the fits could have been better executed. And by the end of the day, these guys are licking their chops for the 49ers. No one’s going into the Bye week happy or satisfied. We’re all looking forward to getting better. Need a little bit of time to reset, but prepare your bodies for the long haul and that push towards winning division.”
How big of an opportunity is it that you guys missed a chance to go 2-1 in the division, 3-1 overall? You have a lot of guys injured? Does that kind of resonate with you guys at all? The opportunity was right there.
“It’s always opportunity. It’s always 50-50. You win and you lose. That’s what it is. When we’re injured and we win or we lose, it’s an opportunity for them. Same here, but we’re 2-2. At the end of the day, we got a lot more opportunities.”
We talked during the week about you guys keeping that attacking style even against Lamar (Jackson). When you talk about the issues you had defensively, do you attribute any to that or was it completely separate from?
“It’s hard to say. I don’t know if they were using our aggressiveness, us playing so far off field, on the edges and if that’s on us, we’ll adjust or if we need to float a little faster over the top, but we’ll see. It’s just a matter of watching the film and seeing what the proper adjustment is and don’t know until tomorrow.”
You guys said during the week that you thought Deshaun (Watson) would play because he’s such a baller. How hard must it have been, do you think, for him to not be able to play in this game? Did you have any words of encouragement for him?
“We told him we got his back. Regardless of whether he plays or doesn’t play, we always have his back and we’re going to ride for him and we came up short, but that didn’t change anything. The guy has played through many injuries, aches and pains and he’s still a baller. And regardless of him playing, were going to play the same aggressive, attack, swagger-filled football. But today it just didn’t swing our way.”
How much does Lamar’s (Jackson) ability to extend plays kind of compliment a guy like Mark Andrews? Because having that safety valve there that he can go through to make big plays?
“Guy just finds a way to get open. And no matter how good you are up front, you let it go, at least on the back end, how good you are on the back end. You let a guy dance around in the backfield or escape or extend the play like that, he’s going to find a way to get open. So I just got to continue to put pressure on him and not allow him to gather the backfield and extend those plays. There was a lot of heat on him, but we didn’t push him to those third downs. We’re just going to have to hold the ball. And when he did, he was using his feet to get away from us.”
Myles, you guys have been so good the last couple of weeks. Tackling and bringing guys down right in contact, seemed to be a little bit of a problem today. What were they doing that all of a sudden?
“Hard to say. Sometimes it’s just how it goes. They were running physically and aggressive. Guys were a little bit late. I think that’s really probably the main culprit. When you’re a little bit late, you leave your feet and it’s hard to drive through a guy when you’re in air and you’re hitting half a man and you’re trying to wrap up a leg, and arm tackles don’t often work in the NFL. So those guys with the way they run and how aggressive they are as well, you got to drive through them. You got to wrap up and you got to be committed to taking them down with one, two, three guys. So I would say it was more of us just being behind and our fit to our execution.”
Even though you guys are 2-2, do you feel good about where this team sits and where it could go?
“I feel optimistic for sure. I don’t feel good about today because we got whooped, but I know that other seasons has proven that can better and will better.”
You’re heading into a Bye week and usually you want to relax and now you’ve got to go in there having just gotten whooped, what can you guys do to kind of get your mind right over the Bye to come back right for the 49ers?
“Watch film and go home. It’s your Bye week. Get your mind off it. That’s what you do. Whether it feels like week five or week twelve, use this time to refresh, reset and get back to work.”
# # #
***Visit the Browns Media Center for materials provided by the Browns communications department, including media schedules, press releases, quotes, photos, media guides, rosters, depth charts and more.***