DE Myles Garrett (9.30.22)
On the one-car accident on Monday, how he is feeling now and if he will be able to play on Sunday:
“I am feeling a lot better. I am glad that everything worked out in a positive light with my passenger and I we are both healthy and walking around. Just blessed to live another day. As far as Sunday, it is a game-time decision up to (Head) Coach (Kevin Stefanski) and the training staff and all of us coming together to make the right decision for me and moving forward. Before I go to any further questions, I would like to thank the Ohio Highway Patrol. I would like to thank the Medina County’s Sheriff Office. I would like to thank all of the first responders who were able to get to me and my passenger and came so quickly and helped us get the medical attention that we needed.”
On if his shoulder or biceps hurts more:
“It is a little bit of both. I am recovering pretty quickly, but both have given me some pain here and there. I wake up each morning feeling better.”
On if there is an element of wanting to play Sunday with the mindset of having a return to a sense of normalcy after the traumatic experience:
“I feel like it was a big thing just getting in here around my guys. Happy to see them. It was one of those things of being embraced by your family and this team, it meant a lot to me and them receiving me with open arms.”
On if he is grateful to be alive after the accident:
“Absolutely. Definitely grateful to be here with what I saw the from right after and the pictures. I think it was a hell of an event. I am just grateful that not only I am alive but I was able to have so much of my family and the support system that was around me keeping me locked in and keeping me focused on just taking it day by day.
On if his life flashed before his eyes during the accident:
“It didn’t for me. For me, it was a little bit of a blur obviously with all that happened but just focused on my family and loved ones.”
On how shaken up he was after the accident and if he is still feeling some effects from the emotional elements of it:
“I think emotionally I am pretty grounded with it. I think I have put it behind me. Physically, I am still dealing with some of the injuries that came along with it. It was really just a blur. It all happened pretty fast. Sometimes, the last couple of nights, I have sat and thought about some of the different situations and scenarios and how it played out. Just knowing that and I can’t change the past, just have to keep on moving forward and glad everyone is alright.”
On how being back with his teammates is helping him move forward:
“It has been amazing seeing these guys just so happy and excited to see me and in good spirits and good health, and seeing these guys just ready to rock. Being around football is something I love and being around these guys who I have grown with and come to know and be able to grind with for these last few months and few years with some of these guys, it is just a great feeling.”
On if he has felt more or less sore over the past few days:
“It has kind of gone up and down. Like this morning, I woke up sore. Yesterday I woke up pretty fresh. Right now, I feel pretty loose. The treatment has been very well for me. Been doing stuff at home and here at the facility. It has gone up and down, but I feel a lot better than I have.”
On if he remembers what happened during the accident, including the car rolling over:
“Just flashes. It was a blur. A lot of things happened very quickly so I don’t remember much that happened.”
On what he has learned from the experience of the accident:
“Really just focusing on the small things while driving that we take for granted. Always keeping your phone away. I always am smart enough to keep my phone away and have my seat belt on, which really saved mine and my passenger’s life. Focusing on the road. I had both hands on the wheel and unfortunately lost control, but everything else that I had control of, I was doing the right way and I was able to save our lives and at least keep us able to walk away from that crash.”
On the report that he swerved to avoid an animal in the road:
“That is what I believe what made me move in the first place. I remember moving out of the way of an animal coming from the right and then I remember approaching a car coming from the opposite way. Then it was kind of just (snaps fingers) a quick flash after that.”
On past speeding tickets and if this incident will help him slow down on the road:
“I think this will be definitely a wakeup call for me. Just trying to be smart overall while driving. Don’t take it for granted. Be grateful that I am able to still be here, and just take my time.”
On getting speeding tickets on back-to-back days last year and if it takes an incident like this past week to tell him he has been driving too fast:
“I don’t think it takes something as drastic as this to tell me I need to slow down. It is just about listening to my loved ones and hearing them out, understanding that it is serious every time you get into the car. No matter how fast you are going over the speed limit, there are a lot of situations and certain instances you put yourself in that can lead to not only endangering yourself but someone else. This is definitely a big call to me to be more safe with my driving and pay attention to my speed and my surroundings. I think there are definitely a lot of circumstances where it can be unsafe, but you have to be aware of all of those.”
On the potential frustration of sustaining an injury off of the field, given his commitment this past year to do certain activities to keep healthy during the season:
“It is not really frustrating because the opposition is me not being here. Right now, I am just grateful to be here in the facility and being able to hop on my limb, be able to walk and talk and do everything that I have been doing for the majority of my life.”
On if eye is OK, given the redness:
“Yeah. Hit my head during the crash. Think I popped a blood vessel in my eye, but as far as my vision, there is nothing wrong with it. Saw an eye doctor, and everything is OK.”
On if he addressed the team when returning to the facility on Thursday:
“I didn’t address them. I went up and I talked to everyone, shook everybody’s hand and hugged everybody. If I get the opportunity again to do that and see everyone, I addressed some guys who I know a little bit better and talked to them, but just happy to be amongst these guys again.”
On if he believes he will be able to play on Sunday:
“That is up to the training staff and the coaches. If it were up to me, I would love to go. That is just my competitive spirit and my nature. Physically, we have to assess that going up to the game, today, tomorrow and on Sunday. That is just another decision that we will make a little bit closer to game time.”
On if at some point following the accident his mindset shifted from being glad he was OK to wondering whether or not he would be able to play football again:
“No. I thought about my family. I thought about them worrying. I thought about my passenger and making sure that they were OK and that their life was going to remain the same. It was not on football because at that point, everything that had just happened was much bigger than football, and it really involved our lives just moving forward. Football was kind of like in the back of my mind and just trying to make sure that everyone’s health moving forward was OK.”
On how relieved he was that his passenger was OK:
“That was a big sigh of relief for me because I was the one that unfortunately put us in danger. It was very calming for me to know that they were OK.”
On if he felt like someone was watching over him after seeing the results of the accident and being OK:
“Yeah, I definitely feel like I had a guardian angel. It was a very well-built car, and I will miss it. I loved that car, but I had a family member recently pass away who I know is watching over me. He just joined his wife, and I know that they are very happy to see me come out that car and be able to walk out under my own power. It is just a blessing to have them watching over me now and be able to watch every game. I know they had something to do with us being able to get out of that car as safe and healthy as we did.”
On if his parents have encouraged him to sit out of Sunday’s game:
“They have voiced their opinions towards me playing in this game, and as far as that goes, they are concerned and they want me to be a little bit more proactive with my health going into the game. The focus is on what the team needs, what we need and what is actually safe for me to do.”
On if Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s injury last night gives him any pause about playing on Sunday:
“Of course, I wouldn’t – well, I guess he was diagnosed with a concussion either. It is kind of a tricky situation knowing that he exhibited signs last game I know with him falling, saying his back was locking up and him not being able to keep his balance and then taking a hit to the head or hitting his head on the ground on that tackle just last night and then him having a neurological episode, it is scary thinking about something like that happening. Maybe it is a possibility for me when I return, but I don’t know until I step out there, I start practicing and doing things. I can’t have that in the back of my mind. I just have to keep on moving forward as if I am normal and I do feel normal.”
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