Garrett meets with Goodell in step toward reinstatement

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, suspended indefinitely by the NFL a day after removing the helmet of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and hitting him in the head with it, met with Commissioner Roger Goodell on Feb. 10.

The meeting, first reported by Cleveland.com and confirmed by a league source, was a required step set out by Goodell for Garrett’s eventual reinstatement.

Garrett missed the final six games of 2019. The Browns went 2-4 without him, beating only the Dolphins and Bengals while losing to the Steelers, Cardinals, Ravens and a rematch with the Bengals.

Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (one game) and Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey (two games) were also suspended for their part in the brawl ignited by what Garrett did.

Last night, I made a terrible mistake,” Garrett said in a statement on Nov. 15.

“I lost my cool and what I did was selfish and unacceptable. I know that we are all responsible for our actions and I can only prove my true character through my actions moving forward.

“I want to apologize to Mason Rudolph, my teammates, our entire organization, our fans and to the NFL. I know I have to be accountable for what happened, learn from my mistake and I fully intend to do so.”

Garrett is expected to be reinstated before the Browns’ offseason program begins April 6, provided he completes counseling, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Garrett has been unavailable to the media since the incident Nov. 14 of last year, although the NFL quietly allowed him back into Browns headquarters

to work out in the weight room. He had 10 sacks and 29 tackles in the 10 games he played in 2019 before being suspended.

In other news, the Browns officially announced hiring Alex Van Pelt as offensive coordinator and retaining Mike Priefer as special teams coordinator.

Priefer was the special teams coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings from 2011-18 while Stefanski worked coaching on the offensive side of the ball. Priefer coached the Browns special teams in 2019. Keeping him was an easy decision for Stefanski.

“It’s been awesome to be back with Coach Prief,” Stefanski told Cleveland Browns.com. “He’s somebody on a personal level I have a great deal of respect for. Great family man. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be back in the fray with him. I’ve seen him coach. I’ve seen his units play really well. It’s exciting to be back around Coach Prief.”

Priefer said he has “unfinished business to accomplish in 2020.

“We have some work to do, some unfinished business,” Priefer said. “At the end of the day, I think we need to hold up better, hold up on punt return better, protect with our drops better on kickoff return. “We have to have more production from our returners. We left some yards on the table, whether it was not hitting the seam right or going down too easy on an arm tackle. Those are the areas we want to improve on.”

Van Pelt will be an offensive coordinator for the first time since 2009, when he was with the Bills. He was the quarterbacks coach with the Bengals last season and prior to that he was Packers quarterbacks coach for four seasons. He is fired up to work with Browns third-year quarterback Baker Mayfield.

“I evaluated him as a QBs coach for the draft and I

was obviously impressed,” Van Pelt told Cleveland Browns.com. “Playing against him for the last two years, you see the type of competitor he is, the type of player he is on the field, loves the game, plays it with passion. Those are all the things you’re looking for in a great player.”

Van Pelt is one of the new coaches on the Browns staff that Stefanski did not work with in Minnesota, but Stefanski saw first-hand the results of Van Pelt working with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers from 2014-17.

“I think his work with the different guys he’s had over his career is very impressive,” Stefanski said. “Just like me, he’s been in a ton of different systems. There’s a really fun discussion when we put up a play and say, ‘what’d you call this or how’d you teach this?”

Stefanski said he is undecided about whether he or Val Pelt will call plays in 2020.