DE Myles Garrett (9.13.24)
Anything to worry about when you missed practice yesterday?
“I wouldn’t say something to worry about. Just something for us to manage and be conscious of, at least for myself to be conscious of and be, just a little cautious.”
Is that something that happened in the game?
“No, it’s not something that happened in the game. Something I was kind of dealing with during the game, but the problem didn’t occur during the game.”
Do you think it will affect you on Sunday?
“We’ll see.”
Is it the same foot with the toe thing that happened like two off seasons ago?
“It is the same foot as the toe.”
Is that related to it?
“That’s weird as that sounds because I have toes on both my feet (laughter). But, no, I don’t think it’s related to that. We don’t think it’s related to that.”
Can you tell us what you did to the foot? You don’t have to, of course, but do you want to share?
“I could tell you and get yelled at by Kevin (Stefanski), so I’m okay.”
So how about Trevor Lawrence? What are you seeing on film? What does he bring?
“He brings confidence, and the man’s strong with the ball. He’s confident with his legs and he’s definitely got a lot of different angles or spots he can put the ball across the field. Hell, he’s tall as hell. He can see the entire field. So, my man is really a prototypical quarterback as far as his size, his arm strength, his accuracy and what he can do when he’s on the football field.”
When you guys played them last year, when he had the high ankle sprain, but Jim (Schwartz) said yesterday he even moved around maybe a little bit more than you guys expected last year when he was hurt. But when he’s healthy, how much more do you see him offering against you guys this week?
“Definitely more than last year. He’s definitely a mobile quarterback. He likes to get out and stretch the field. He’ll also get down and make yards with his legs if he has to. But he’s looking for that big play and he can really do both. So we have to be cognizant of that and playing with that awareness.”
Myles, you had the strip sack on Dak (Prescott), obviously, and came within maybe a split second of another one. When you rewatched that, I mean, how close were you to making three or four more plays like you did?
“I mean those are thin margins of the game being right there. But, whether we needed to get some more pressure in his face or just blanket the coverage just a little bit more. That’s just rush and coverage working together and sometimes it’s going to be there. I’m going to get that extra or another two big plays or strip sacks and sometimes it’s going to be really close and just got to apply pressure to him until he feels like he has to hold it and he’s throwing us an errant ball because he’s trying to rush it or throw it to get away from us. Those two things will always work together.”
What do you think of (Tank) Bigsby and (Travis) Etienne and that run game they have?
“I think they’re both talented. I think they both can offer some help for the receiving core, being able to catch the ball at the backfield, but also run the hell out the ball. So, both of those guys will be a threat on Sunday.”
You mentioned that Lawrence plays with confidence. What does confident quarterback play look like?
“Just the composure in the pocket, not feeling too — no pressure, never getting too high, too low. He’s always pretty calm when he’s looking downfield. It’s not like he’s feeling the pressure or the blitzes. He’s not looking over your shoulder. He’s not tap dancing down the field going through his progressions is trying to make that play, and he’s only gotten more confident as the year has gone.”
How can you guys, as a pass rush group, impede that confidence?
“Hit him. Multiple times.”
Can you tell us when they’re starting to go the other way, when they’re losing confidence? What does that look like?
“Absolutely. You can definitely tell when someone’s losing confidence and you try to play into it and continue to find a way to chip away at that confidence and that composure. And sometimes it’s early, sometimes it’s late but once you find that crack, you got to continue to chip away until you completely destroy mentally.”
This was a week in which Deshaun Watson has been dealing with an off the field situation. Just wondering, you guys, as a team, do you feel like maybe you’ll close ranks, rally around him and pull together in the face of some adversity or how do you think this might impact you guys on Sunday?
“That’s what we’ve always done; close ranks and taking care of our guys no matter who it is. So we’re going to continue to have his back completely and help him get through everything he’s dealing with. He’s had a lot of different personal hardships, currently. So we’re going to be there for him as much as we can and be that shoulder to lean on and take care of him as brothers on Sunday.”
So we talked last year about the discrepancy, home/road, with the defense, especially the scoring. This is your first opportunity on the road this year. Are you confident that it’ll be different, and if so, why?
“Am I confident it’s gonna be different? Absolutely. A lot of guys are healthy, and we had a couple guys who suffered some injuries, but a lot of really talented guys who are committed and very focused on the task at hand. There’s just a level of focus that wasn’t there consistently last year that’s been there this year, and some leadership that we acquired that will help us make sure that strides are made on the road.”
I was thinking about, during Kevin’s (Stefanski) tenure, like it seems like if you guys have had a bad game or some stuff going on the week before a game, that you’re able to come back as a team and kind of rally and can win when people least expect it. Like, what do you think has allowed you guys in the last, like four or five years to kind of get to that point?
“I mean, it helps when you have a coach like that. He’s got that bit of his dad in him with that basketball mentality. You don’t lose two in a row. And just making sure we attack each and every day. There’s no days off, whether it’s a Monday or Tuesday, we’re finding a way to get better. Working our bodies, being in a regen (regeneration) room, focus on play calls, he’s in constant communication with multiple guys, whether that’s leadership or not, and making sure that we’re focusing on the game. And whether you’re getting better physically or mentally, you’re trying to make strides on one or the other daily. And he’s always on it and he’s always trying to find a way to keep us prepared and not letting our heads get too big when we win and not drop too low when we lose.”
Bubba Ventrone yesterday mentioned that he thought in all three phases of the game that you guys did not play with enough effort and you guys did not play hard enough. And those are kind of strong words, I think, from a coach. But do you agree with him on that?
“I can see what he’s talking about with that. Now there were some bad busts in each phase, and when you have busts like that, you have to play with overwhelming effort to account for that. And I don’t think we played with that kind of effort to counteract those busts that we had in each phase of the game. So, if it’s going to be an off day, you have to take it to the next level as far as that effort and that passion, it wasn’t there on Sunday and we got to take it up a notch.”
Myles, obviously you suffered a very tragic loss of your uncle in that game clincher against the (New York) Jets and obviously Deshaun had lost his father. Did you give him any guidance on how to manage that situation in terms of, like, mental state, anything?
“A little bit. And then we talked when we met as leaders. We were all in the same room, Kevin and the leaders of the team, and we all spoke and he really opened up to us. And I feel like that was really a moment to connect and get to know him and him to get to know us. How we were going to react to him as a family and feeling that support. And opening up to his support system, I feel like really enables him to come to us if anything else ever happens, whether it’s football related or not, knowing that we have his back. And I was willing to share some of my experiences, whether it’s from familial personal experience or from playing the game. There’s been hardships all around. And I want him to know that he’s not the only — he’s not going through this alone. And we’ve all dealt with our own problems and we will continue to support him. And sharing those experiences so then he knows that he has people to lean on and someone to talk to when those times get rough.”
The stats, when you start 0-1 about getting to the playoffs, aren’t great and they really drop off if you’re 0-2. So, I’m sure you’re aware of that. So just, does it feel like there’s a whole bunch of urgency to win this trip?
“There’s always urgency. I won’t say I believe in many percentages or statistics like that. People overcome odds every single day. So, I don’t plan on going there and going 0-2 — I plan on going there and going 1-0. We all do. So we don’t have to worry about that if we go in there and do the job we need to.”
Do you feel like you, not that you have to put this defense on your shoulders even more, but I know you have taken on more of a leadership role and you want to be more dominant, more disruptive. Do you feel like you’re going to set the tone and just do whatever you can possibly do to go in there and get this victory and get everybody to the level that they need to be.
“Absolutely. I’m going to go in there and make sure that we get a W.”