DE Myles Garrett (9.21.25)
So how was that like, to be out there and go through the range of emotions with the way the last four minutes went?
“I wouldn’t say there was range of emotions for us. We would have wanted to get that fumble recovery, it was clear and obvious to us that he got it out and recovered it. But they called it on the field, and I guess there wasn’t enough to overturn it. But I told my guys out there, even at halftime that we’re going to win this ball game, keep your head up and just keep fighting, and we came through.”
Myles, you actually said it on Friday, got to take the ball away now, like the job that you guys are doing isn’t enough. Do you feel like that was like the last piece of the puzzle to unlocking this defense’s potential?
“Absolutely. I mean, we’ve been doing everything else pretty well, and we’ve been holding a lot of teams to low yardage and for most part and taking the ball away. We had our hand on the football multiple times, and we came up with it when we needed to.”
You always talk about how you guys stick together as a team, you play together, you fight for each other. If your offense isn’t going well, your defense is going to come through. I mean, is this just the epitome, the definition of complementary football for you guys today?
“It is how you win games. It’s not always going to be pretty, it is not always going to be a shootout. You can’t always hold them to zero. There is going to be games when everybody is needed, and as you saw it today.”
Myles, how about the pressure you you guys put on Jordan Love and the false starts that you guys drew from them? How much of an effect did that have on this?
“It is hard to say. I feel like we were getting pressure on them all day, put them on the ground, getting hits on him and just trying to frustrate him, and if he didn’t get it out quickly, we were taking him down. So, I think it maybe it generated some of those big plays, some of the takeaways that we got, and that’s what we need.”
What was it for Andre (Szmyt), just somebody who has kind of ridden the roller coaster the first couple of weeks, just to be able to get a little redemption in this experience?
“He knows who he is. And, one moment doesn’t define you. He was just waiting for this opportunity to come again, and we knew he was ready. Talked to him and picked his brain, and he was ready for the moment. He was excited to get the opportunity with the game on the line again, he made the most of it, and we’re very proud of him.”
Started the season with Joe Burrow, then went to Lamar Jackson, then went to Jordan Love, had success against all of them. How good, really, is this defense?
“As good as we want to be. I think we can be as dominant as we want, so we see what we know we can do. As long as we stick together, don’t worry about the scoreboard, execute what we know we can do, and be where we are supposed to be. We have talent on every part of the field, so as long as we keep our heads up, don’t worry about the noise, what’s going on around us, we can be the very best.”
Myles, when the first two weeks didn’t go exactly the way you guys wanted it to go, can a win like this boost morale and motivation and those kinds of things?
“For sure. I think it helps give belief and reason and focus. Guys continue to still fight, push towards this goal that we have and getting wins, gritty wins like that make you realize what it’s all for, how much you can really build and achieve if you keep on chipping away. I think that’ll allow us to understand what we really have in our room, in our building. And just keep on grinding.”
Myles, in training camp, you talked about that you wanted this team to go to the Super Bowl, and you believe this team can go to the Super Bowl. Does a game like this really show everybody what this team really is capable of when it does play that complementary ball, and what it can do?
“Capable of? Yes, absolutely, but we have to do that from week to week. And we are going to get every team’s best, we have to be our very best. We have to stay healthy, we have execute at a very high level, and we have to do it for 60 minutes, longer if need be. So, I think we have what it takes, I think the men in the room are who we need. We got to prove it week in and week out.”
Why were you still so confident at halftime with the offense really not doing anything that you told the guys they would win?
“A man who thinketh in his heart, so is he. So, if I believe, the guys around me are going to believe. You know, I’m going to go out there and keep fighting, because I know if I give my very best, the guys next to me, guys behind me, they’re going to do the very same, and outcomes like this happen.”
What’d you think about Shelby (Harris) being able to block that field goal in the last 30 seconds?
“Didn’t have a doubt. Whether it was going to be him or Denzel, I didn’t know who it was going to be, but I saw the look in their eyes, and I knew we were going to go get it. I didn’t know how, but I knew it was going to get done.”
He gets up pretty well for an old guy, huh?
“I don’t know if he got up at all, he just has long arms. He has long arms, he just puts that 300 pounds on you, keeps on driving with the legs, and I think the guys next to him, Mason (Graham), I think Lik’ (Maliek Collins) was out there too. They just created enough separation, made the play.
You think he puts those white gloves on, those big mits to make sure that you know that he hit the ball?
“Absolutely. He wants the attention, and he deserves it. He goes out there and makes big plays like that, he deserves that praise.”
Myles, these fans have stuck with you guys through thick and thin. How much fun was it just to see how that place totally erupted when you guys pulled this one out?
“You know, I saw some of the fans leaving, and I just knew they would be missing on something special, that we still had something in the tank. Those guys over there on the other end are tough. They were tough for 60 minutes, and we grinded away and made just enough plays.”
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