Garrett top gun on a bottom team
No. 1 overall pick out of A&M only now rounding into form
Defensive end Myles Garrett is the best thing to hit Cleveland since LeBron James returned to lead the Cavaliers to an NBA championship.
Unfortunately for Garrett, Browns and championship aren’t used in the same sentence. But that hasn’t prevented Cleveland fans from getting excited about the first overall pick from Texas A&M.
Even though he has played in only one game because of a high ankle sprain — Sunday’s 17-14
home loss to the New York Jets — Garrett flashed his extraordinary talent by recording two sacks, including one on the first play of his NFL career.
Garrett isn’t 100 percent but expects to play more Sunday when the winless Browns play the Texans at NRG Stadium.
“It was nice (and), hopefully, I can continue making plays,” Garrett said Wednesday. “I’m not at my peak right now. I’m not where I want to be. Nothing you can really do about it.
“I can still come off the ball. I can still play the run, can still defend and give offensive tackles something to handle, something to deal with every snap. As long as I can do that, as long as I can keep them on their toes, I’m going to be trying to make plays.”
Because he was the first pick in the draft, Garrett is expected to be a centerpiece for a franchise still struggling to win. In a perfect world, Garrett will become to the defense what left tackle Joe Thomas has been to the offense — a perennial Pro Bowl pick destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Crossed paths with QB
Garrett has no problem accepting that kind of responsibility and playing with that kind of pressure.
“I put more pressure on myself than most other people do,” he said. “I’m focused on my goals and what I want to do on every play. There’s really not any outside pressure that can faze me when I already have so many goals and so high expectations of myself. I’m not too bothered about outside opinions or expectations.”
Garrett’s injury wasn’t the same ankle that hindered him at A&M last season. As he did with the Aggies in 2016, he didn’t let the injury keep him down for long.
“Nobody wants to start their career off that way, (but) you’ve got to roll with the punches,” he said. “When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. You just go from there, recover (and) come back strong.”
Garrett needs to be strong Sunday in front of family and friends who’ll watch him try to sack rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Watson and Garrett crossed paths before they became two of the best college players in the country.
Watson was a star in Gainesville, Ga., and Garrett in Arlington when they met for the first time.
“Our relationship goes back to our high school days when we’d attend different (football) camps,” Watson said. “I’d see him here and there. We’d communicate and talk.
“He’s a great player. He’s the No. 1 draft pick for a reason. He’s got a lot of talent. I know he just came back from an injury, but he’s going to be fired up and ready to go.”
Garrett, 21, was asked about his first impression of Watson?
“Good, humble kid, played well,” he said.
As Garrett has prepared to play for the first time, he has kept an eye on Watson from afar. He knows Watson has helped the Texans rank third in scoring with 28.8 points and has accounted for 14 touchdowns, including 12 passing.
“He’s a hell of a competitor,” Garrett said. “We’ve seen (on) the college level, and we’re seeing it again on the NFL level. He’s having a tremendous amount of success.
“It’s our job to stop it. The finger’s being pointed at me right now to help do something about it. Just got to make sure we can keep him in the pocket and try to get after him a little.” Kudos from coaches
Garrett will be blocked by veteran left tackle Chris Clark.
“He’s playing hard (and) coming off an injury (so) he’s eager to show the league what he has,” Clark said. “He’s good. He’s got a lot of tools he can use.
“I have to watch film, be ready for everything and do what needs to be done.”
Garrett (6-4, 272) is an imposing physical specimen who’s explosive off the ball, has strong hands and an excellent closing burst to the quarterback.
“He’s a differencemaker,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “You can see why they drafted him No. 1.”
Ever since he excelled as a freshman for the Aggies, Garrett was predicted to be the first pick in the draft. He left after his junior year, and even though the Browns kept quiet for a while about their plan to take him, there was never any doubt.
“We saw the young man was very dominant physically, that he was a tremendous person, that he worked extremely hard, that football was important to him, that he understood what being a professional was about,” Cleveland coach Hue Jackson said. “He has a burning desire to be one of the best at what he does.
“We feel like it’s a great fit for us. We think he got off to a roaring start this past week, and, hopefully, we can continue to build on what he did.”