DE Myles Garrett (1.2.25)
I was just going to ask you about making your sixth Pro Bowl of your career.
“It’s special. I’m grateful for every single one. Hopefully I can keep my toe safe and come out healthy. But, always excited to go out there and see some of the very best. I know some of those guys pretty well and being around greatness, that’s rare. So, I just try to take what I can from the experience and like I said, not take it for granted.”
Because of the toe injury, do you think you might sit out some of the festivities or watch from the sideline?
“Yeah, I think I might play it safe and do some things a little bit less strenuous.”
I know we’ve talked about the sack title before, but now that it’s one game away, you’re tied with Trey (Hendrickson), how cool would it be to you, how important is it to you to get that first sack title?
“I mean, I’d rather upset them and mess up their playoff hopes. And if the sack title comes along with that, great. Definitely going to do what I can to be disruptive and take eight (Lamar Jackson) out of the game as much as possible. If that comes along with it, outstanding. But at the end of the day, I want to win.”
Is it possible that you can take eight out of the game completely?
“Completely? Hell, no. The man’s amazing. A couple years back, you would say, ‘Try to keep him in the pocket.’ I think even beginning of the season we were like, ‘Try to keep him in pocket, make him throw as much as possible,’ and now you’re like, ‘S***, we don’t know what to do.’ He’s been steadily growing year after year. He lost that baby weight. Now he’s back to being lean and fast as hell. So now, whether he breaks the pocket or he stays in the pocket, you’re going to have a rough day because he can do everything.”
We were talking to Kevin (Stefanski) earlier, and he was campaigning for you to again be the Defensive Player of the Year. Do you think you’re having a better year than you even did last year?
“Yes, to say it bluntly. But I feel like I faced much more difficult odds this year, and offenses have done quite a lot to try to take me up the game and made it blatantly obvious. But I feel like the guys around me have really helped me thrive as much as I have at this point. Just got to continue to add on to what I’ve done with this last game. But I couldn’t have done it without all the guys with me, the other 10.”
Did you feel a true increase in what teams were doing to you and was it maybe unique from other years?
“Yeah, I mean, it was kind of a mix and match, some teams do it, some teams won’t. But I feel like a lot of the people are starting to share the same blueprint on doubling, chipping, sliding, tripling, all that stuff. There are so many different ways in which they’re trying to keep me out of my rhythm, keep me off balance, make sure that I don’t have many opportunities to make plays.”
Why do you think you were able to play better despite…
“Because I got better. And I’ll continue to until I’m finished.”
Can you specify how you did get better?
“It was another year of seeing it, and breaking it down with my teammates, and Jacques (Cesaire) and (Jim) Schwartz, finding a way. But you start seeing it, we start to go back to that film from last year before that of how they’re trying to treat me and start to game plan against it just like the gameplay against myself.”
I remember heading into, not this season, but last season, you didn’t think that you necessarily had compiled the whole Hall of Fame resume that you were going to need. But these past two years, it just seems like you’ve taken everything up a notch since you’ve reached all these milestones like NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Do you feel like you have put together now a Hall of Fame resume?
“I don’t think about that in the slightest. Like I have continued to say, I want to win. And a lot of the guys I look up to who are in the Hall of Fame have won at a very high level, have gone to the mountain top and either been there multiple times or won a ‘chip. I got to continue to continue to work myself into that conversation by finding a way to succeed, getting wins, and we have to continue to work on that for next year.”
Do you anticipate talking to having the discussion, the postseason discussion, like on getaway day on Sunday with AB (Andrew Berry) and Jimmy (Haslam) and all the people that you need to talk to about your future?
“I’m going to do it with them whatever day they choose to do it. I’m not going to do anything different from the group. I have a set time and slot, and I’ll abide by that.”
Going back to Lamar and going against him. When you look it up, you have five and a half sacks, taking him down in your career. And do you think that was the hardest five and a half sacks you’ve had to get in your career?
“Absolutely. It’s not even close. There are definitely some other special cats at the quarterback position who are shifty. I mean, Pat (Patrick Mahomes) himself, he has great contact balance, but, I mean, Lamar has that. But he also has speed, he has quickness, is shifty, so he has that tremendous running ability, and he can also throw the ball pretty much anyone on the field right now.”
So, I know you’ve gotten him with the sacks. Like, have you ever got, like a clean shot on him? It feels like a lot of guys don’t, whether you’re scrambling or whatever, he just doesn’t take big hits.
“I don’t know anybody who has got a real clean, like, wallop on him. I don’t know if it’ll happen. Yeah, I don’t know if it’ll happen. So, myself included, like you said, but we’ll see. Someone has to do it.”
Two of you guys have the most success against with sacks are Joe and Lamar, and I know that they’re in the division, but you sort of take pride in that? These are two guys that, you know, they’re amongst the best of the best in the game right now. They’re both good at being elusive, getting rid of the ball quick and all that. And yet you’re still able to amass the numbers that you’ve amassed against them.
“I mean, getting sacks are difficult against anyone. So those guys are definitely at the top of that list with different ways of going about it, but with Joe feeling a lot better physically than he has in years and Lamar being Lamar, those are special, but we got to continue to add to that.”
Myles, Rodney McLeod, his last NFL game coming up this Saturday. What has he meant to this locker room?
“I mean, he’s been a foundational leader. He’s been here, been as steady as possible, and he’s always been right there when we needed him, whether it’s on the field making plays or just being here, being a steady voice for us and never being discouraged. He’s seen it all. He’s been a part of it all and I’m grateful to be around someone who’s been a part of success, understands what it takes and help giving that time to influence the younger guys who continue to chase after their hopes and dreams.”
Myles, when Kevin (Stefanski) was making his case for you to win Defensive Player of the Year he said he can’t see how anyone would think you aren’t the best defensive player in football. Do you think you’re the best defensive player in the league right now?
“Yes.”
Why?
“Why? Go check the tape. That’s why.”