‘Nothing major,’ but ailment keeps Garrett sidelined
No details provided as former A&M star is held out of drills.
Myles Garrett wore a baseball cap at practice Wednesday instead of a helmet.
The No. 1 overall draft pick from Texas A&M remains slowed by an injury the Browns say is not serious.
Garrett stayed on the side and worked with a trainer while teammates continued their offseason workouts without the rookie defensive end. Browns coach Hue Jackson did not specify Garrett’s injury or why he was kept out of practice.
“It’s nothing major,” Jackson said. “So I think we’re right where we need to be.”
Jackson said Garrett did practice Tuesday, when the workout was closed to the media, but it’s not known how much he participated.
“I know you guys want to see him in the worst way,” Jackson told reporters. “He looked like Myles Garrett. Big, fast, tough.”
Last week, Garrett described the injury “as a little nick” and said the Browns were holding him out of practice as a precaution. He also said he expected to be “full tilt” for this week’s workouts. The 6-foot-4, 272-pounder was slowed by an ankle injury during part of his junior season at A&M, but Jackson said it’s not related to this ailment.
In other news, receiver Corey Coleman could miss the rest of the offseason program after he fell last week during a catch. Coleman spent much of Wednesday riding a stationary bike and working with trainers.
“I would never minimize the mistakes that were made,” Witten said Wednesday after offseason practice. “But mistakes happen. And our job is to create an atmosphere where there is a togetherness. One thing about having been in a locker room, you can never point that finger.”
Carroll, an eighth-year veteran who signed with Dallas in March following three seasons with Philadelphia, practiced but didn’t appear in the locker room when it was open to reporters two days after his arrest in Dallas.
Irving was a no-show for reporters for the second straight week since news of a failed drug test, which the third-year player is appealing. Irving showed promise last year for a pass rush lacking punch in recent seasons.
“We don’t get frustrated, we just try to address the issue,” coach Jason Garrett said. “We addressed the issue here like we have with other situations that have come up with our team. You address them head-on, you do your best to solve the issue and learn from it and move forward.”
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence was one of the three suspended starters going into last season. He violated the substance-abuse policy along with Gregory and linebacker Rolando McClain, who eventually was banned indefinitely.
Lawrence, who missed the first four games, also had to deal with back issues that limited him to one sack in nine games after leading the Cowboys with eight sacks in 2015.
“I can’t sit here and talk down on somebody else when I had the same problem,” Lawrence said. “I really just try to hone in and try to help them get through it. Everybody goes through a rough patch in life. I’m not the person to sit here and try to talk down on them.”
Garrett said Carroll’s arrest “hits close to home,” a vague reference to Josh Brent’s intoxication manslaughter conviction over the 2012 car crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown.
Former Dallas defensive lineman Jay Ratliff pleaded guilty to drunken driving over a crash that happened less than two months after Brown’s death. Ratliff was at odds with the Cowboys over the handling of a sports hernia at the time and didn’t play for them again, eventually ending up in Chicago.
The Cowboys are standing by Carroll, who signed a $10 million, three-year contract with a $3 million signing bonus.
“Nolan has taken responsibility for it,” Garrett said. “He’s been accountable to it not only with me and the coaching staff but with the team.”
Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli has been without several top players because of injuries or suspensions while the defense struggled to make game-changing plays the past three seasons. But he’s never spent much time dwelling on the absences.
“I think the message has been sent when they’re not playing,” Marinelli said. “So they miss a lot of football practice, which really affects your career.”