DE Myles Garrett (10.20.24)
Myles, how hard was that seeing Deshaun (Watson) go down? I know you were the last one to kind of get the pat on the back.
“It was harder with the reaction that the fans gave. Whether it’s an opponent that goes down or one of our own, we don’t boo. We don’t boo the guys that are injured on the field, especially with the extent where the cart comes out. We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. Could be a season altering, career altering injury. Man is not perfect; he doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones from my glass house. But we need to do better, we need to do better on the football field, and we need to do better as fans for having some empathy for a man who’s doing the best he can and did the best he can up to this point. We have to better.”
What does that make you feel? Does that alter your opinion on Browns fans?
“Ultimately, everyone is feeling. And they’re disappointed just like we are. But we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game. And you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Just thinking specifically to Deshaun’s injury, how tough was that as a teammate to see that and be able to kind of see him after the game?
“I haven’t been able to see him since the game.”
We can talk about the game a minute, Myles? You guys have done pretty well against Joe Burrow in the past. What happened there today?
“I mean, they just did enough. Two touchdowns and defensively, you’re hoping to keep them under 17 points. That’s a pretty solid day at their office. And we had a couple of big plays, but for the most part, we felt like we kept them contained. We needed to get some more takeaways that would have swung the momentum of the game, but we had a lapse in which they scored, and we were pretty consistent throughout.”
I know you’ve been supportive of Deshaun throughout all his struggles. How bad do you feel for him to see him go down like that?
“No one deserves that. I’ve seen him work his a** off to get back in here and put a smile on his face and try to put everything that’s outside the facility behind him. Death threats, people come to his house, going after his family. Like I said, no one deserves that. And I hate using the word deserves. I’m usually pretty consistent saying earned. He hadn’t earned it and he doesn’t deserve it. Man does pretty much everything right. He’s been a model citizen through college and most of the pros. He plays the game as hard as anyone I’ve seen, puts everything on the line, willing to throw his body out there and he plays the game at 100 miles per hour. There’s a risk that you can be injured, and he took that risk. But we have to be there for him as a team, as an organization. We can’t look down on a guy because of any mistakes on the field or anything off the field. We don’t have any more high ground to look down on a guy.”
When he gets injured like that in a non-contact play, what does that make you think?
“I have no idea. I really didn’t get to see the play.”
It seems like throughout the season you were pretty supportive of him, knowing that if you guys all did your part, you guys on your side of the ball, everybody else on offense, that Deshaun would probably have fared a lot better than he did. Is that your view of how things kind of went?
“That’s how you expect it, it’s complimentary football. We do well, get the ball back and they do well, but it’s not always that easy. It’s not always one plus one. Sometimes those guys make plays on the other end. I think it’s been a culmination of things on our end, not executing as we should, but also them having an answer for what we’re doing as well.”
Myles, the contrast is kind of striking today, but just in the interest of Nick Chubb coming back, what did you think of that moment and the way he played?
“I think he did well. It seemed like he was on a pitch count and wanted to take care of him. I think it’s a smart thing to do. It’s a long season, I want to see him continue to grow and improve from here and get more confident and comfortable taking hits and bouncing off those hits and breaking tackles. But I think he did well.”
Myles, you guys were in this situation a year ago where Dorian (Thompson-Robinson), assuming Dorian goes next week, what’s sort of the message to him from his teammates and what can he learn from just what he went through a year ago if he’s thrown into that again?
“Slow the game down. Take your time. We as your teammates, as your family, have your back. You don’t have to make every single play, and not every play has to be a big play. You can slowly grind it down the field or if you see that big play, go for it. But it doesn’t have to be every single one. And we believe in his throwing ability, we believe in his legs. But don’t take unnecessary hits. Don’t take unnecessary risks and just go for those plays when you see them. Don’t force anything.”
It just seems like this just isn’t the Cleveland Browns football team that these fans know and love and that you guys believed yourselves to be and are you shocked that this is the product that you guys have been putting on?
“I’m disappointed. That’s what I am.”