DE Myles Garrett (12.17.23)
How fun and exciting is it to keep doing this time and time again this season, especially at home in front of your home crowd?
“Just about securing the win. We never think we’re out of it and as long as you have time on the clock, we’re going to grind out every single yard, every single inch to win the game. Offensive, defense, special teams, we all came together and pulled through.”
Myles, Cam Mitchell makes a huge play there in the fourth quarter where Justin (Fields) gets out and it looks like he’s going to get the first down, but Cam’s able to get enough of him to trip him up. How big of a momentum shift was that for this team to get that stop, to kind of give the offense the opportunity to keep its margin at ten?
“I mean, Cam is a hell of a young talent and those guys in the secondary, I want to say unsung heroes today, they didn’t make as many plays as last week, but they still balled out. And Cam has been taking step by step each week, getting better and listening to the vets in the room and just doing what he needs to make plays for the football team and we can’t be any prouder.”
Did you have a good view of the Hail Mary at the end?
“Sure. Too good of a view. He kind of looked at me, just made sure I was far enough away and then tossed it up. I was like, please Lord, don’t let us be one of these YouTube compilations.”
I don’t want to get you in trouble again, but.
“Ask Roger.”
Did you talk to him?
“No, I didn’t talk to him. But you watch the film and you ask Roger, I know what the question is going to be and not going to hit me over the head with anything else.”
You said you guys are always believing, but what are you thinking when you’re down ten in the fourth quarter? Joe (Flacco) has thrown three interceptions, you’re not doing much on offense. And then what do you think when the comeback started?
“All it takes is one play. That’s what I thought before, during, and after. We don’t shy away from a challenge. Down ten points. We go through scenarios like that in practice all the time. Defense has to make a play. Offense has to go down and score in two minutes. This is stuff that we drill through and we execute day in and day out. So when the opportunity presents itself, we’re ready for the moment. And there was no greater moment than down ten, fourth quarter. We had an opportunity to show who we are.”
How about Joe (Flacco)? Can you just talk about how he overcame three picks, locked in there at the end and just went down and helped pull this thing out?
“The guys always talk about, he’s been here before, three picks, he’s been there before, three touchdowns, been there before. Nothing rattles him because he has all this experience, and he’s going to keep on going through his paces, go back to his fundamentals, and he was clutched for us down the stretch, knowing that he has it in the bag because this is not new to him. He’s a guy who’s been doing it for so many years. You can’t rattle a guy like that. You can’t get him off his spot.”
Ogbo (Okoronkwo) and Mo (Maurice Hurst) both out with injuries. But looks like Alex (Wright) and Shelby (Harris) really showed up and really the epitome of that kind of next man up mindset today up front. Just those two guys in particular, just what they brought today?
“I mean, as you saw, Alex is balling out, Shelby, the old uncle in the room. Man, just finds a way to just be productive. He doesn’t make it look pretty, but, man, he’s come through for us multiple times. Alex, the young gun, he just got his first sack this year. Now that’s just stacking them. And whenever they’re sending two, three my way, slides, whatever it is, licking his chops for the opportunity. And when he got his moment, he made the most out of the strip sack. And all we can ask for is to know that we collect the ball next time and give it to the offense.”
How about on the back end? Ronnie Hickman and D’Anthony Bell filling in full time today. What do you think of their efforts?
“They were. Those guys aren’t scared to hit, aren’t scared to put their hats down and make a play on those guys coming full speed out, and you don’t see that in a lot of secondary guys around the league. Those guys have my complete respect because coming from that kind of distance, you have to be really ready to lay it all on the line.”
You’ve been with David Njoku from day one, seeing the ups and the downs. But, I mean, how great is it for you to see him coming through in big moments like this and having such a huge game?
‘Knowing what he’s been through, especially this year with the two-face incident, it’s been fun seeing him grow as a person, maturing, evolving as a player and how good of a teammate he’s become, how great of a teammate he’s become because that can’t be understated. And he’s turned from a guy who’s trying to make plays, trying to find his role on the team, to one of the biggest advocates for every single player on this team. And I think that pays dividends because when you want to see the success of your brother, that also fulfills you as well.”
Myles, I’m sorry if you’ve been asked this already, but this team keeps finding a way to win games in the final couple minutes of these fourth quarters. What is it about this team where you guys come up with so many winning praise week after week?
“Because the standard doesn’t change. That’s why we have the ability to do it. You know guys go in and out. We drill with different circumstances where I’m out, David’s (Njoku) out, (Joe) Flacco’s out. We’ve been through four quarterbacks. It’s not going to shake us because we’ve literally been through it all with injuries and everything else. So this is just another step in our journey, another opportunity for us to write a very peculiar but great legacy.”
Trying to get, after turnover, trying to force the team to a field goal and add a touchdown. Did you think you had that on that first one where they started the one and there were a bunch of penalties and then looked like you were going to take Justin (Fields) out?
“I mean, the kid is strong and I had somebody hanging on my back so it was just a little combination of both and I thought I had them, but just with the angle and everything else, I didn’t have them as much as I thought I did. But the kid’s a playmaker and he’ll continue to grow and get better. Looking forward to his development through the years.”
You just call this a peculiar journey. Could you have imagined that it would take this path to 9-5? Four quarterbacks, injuries, everything else you guys have been up against.
“Who could have wrote this story? I mean, not even Dr. Seuss. It doesn’t get more abstract than what we’ve gone through, but hell, we’re making the most of it, having fun with it. And man, you just got to be blessed with achieving. You’re on this roller coaster and we’ve been through ups and downs, but we’re together and that’s how we’re going to get through what we have and that’s how we’re going to continue to win.”
# # #
***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.***