GARRETT’S INJURY HISTORY DOESN’T WORRY BROWNS COACH JACKSON
Garrett to miss at least two games with ankle injury.
Browns coach CLEVELAND — Hue Jackson isn’t worried that Myles Garrett, who’s out multiple weeks with a high right ankle sprain, is injury prone and will have chronic ankle problems here.
“No concern because I know exactly how it happened,” said Jackson. “If you get somebody thrown into your leg, it could happen to any one of our guys. If you guys would have seen it, it could happen to anybody on our football team. It is just unfortunate it happened to a guy who we wish was out there all of the time. That goes with it.”
Jackson explained how Garrett was injured midway through Wednesday’s practice. The sprain will keep him out of Sunday’s opener against the Steelers and next week’s game in Baltimore. He was in a walking boot Thursday, and appeared to be in good spirits as he walked with a trainer.
“Somebody got thrown into the back of his leg by accident,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t intentional and those things happen. It wasn’t planned. Nobody tried to have it hap- pen. He didn’t try to have it happen. It’s football. Those things happen sometimes when you’re out there practic- ing. It was unfortunate that it happened, and we are going to move on from it.”
He said it wasn’t during a live tackling period.
“It’s just somebody was getting blocked, got pushed, stumbled and ended up going into the guy’s leg,” he said.
Jackson acknowledged that Garrett’s injury is “unfortunate. He’s one of our bet- ter players, and we wish we had them all out there, but we will have him out there at some point in time soon. We will go from there.”
Jackson declined to put a timetable on Garrett, who’s proven to be a fast healer.
“We’re going to be week to week,” he said.
He said Garrett “is disappointed like any player would be. He was excited about starting his NFL career and regular season and then this happens. But his spirits are back up today. I think he understands where he is and he knows he is going to get back out there, so he’ll be fine.”
It’s the second significant injury for Garrett since he’s been with the Browns, but both came from friendly fire. During minicamp, Cam Erving rolled up on his left ankle on a would-be sack, and he suffered a lateral foot sprain that sidelined him for a few weeks over the summer break.
It’s also his second high ankle sprain in the past year. Last season, he suffered one on his left ankle in the fourth week of the season vs. Arkan- sas. He sat out two games, and then came back early against the advice of the medical staff. He gutted it out all year on the bad ankle and was lim- ited to 8.5 sacks.
But Garrett, who also recovered quickly from his minicamp injury, is already focused on his comeback.
“He’s doing a good job,” said Joe Thomas. “I had breakfast with him this morning. He’s focused on getting back as soon as he can. (But) it hurts losing a guy that is that much of a game changer.”
Thomas acknowledged that a high ankle sprain is tough to play on.
“It’s a very difficult injury and even though you can feel good enough to try to get out there and you can tape it up and brace it up as much as you can, you’re just not the same player you were before the injury because it’s tough,” he said. “It really limits your ability to just run.”
Defensive end Tyrone Holmes, who was waived over the weekend and re-signed Thursday, hopes to help fill the void.
“Everybody knows how talented of a player he is,” said Holmes. “He’s a freak. It’s a huge loss for the team, but we’re going to have to go in and step up and try to fill the role.”