BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – As Myles Garrett continues to ascend the ranks of the best in NFL history, his focus is on keeping the faith that this Browns season is far from over.
Here’s a few Brownie Bites from Black Friday availability.
Cusp of (more) history – Myles Garrett continues to pile up sacks and climb the ladder of the NFL history books too. Garrett is 1.5 sacks shy of 100 which would make him the fifth player since 1982 when sacks became a tracked stat to be the fourth-fastest to the milestone and fifth to do it in his first eight seasons. “I think I still took too long,” Garrett said. “In my eyes, when I look at it. It’d have been tough to catch Mr. [Reggie] White, but I think hopefully this next however many number will come quicker than the first hundred. So we'll go out there and we'll do what I do and try to take it up a notch.” Garrett is 3.0 sacks shy of becoming the third player since ’82 to tally 13 sacks in five or more if his first eight seasons and he is two sacks away from joining Lawrence Taylor in reaching 12 sacks in five straight seasons. “His production is so high, even though he's a marked man, even though every game plan starts with don't let 95 wreck the game, and he still finds a way to wreck games,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. “Even if it's not sacks, it can be batted passes, it can be run game. You guys know the way I feel – a tackle for a loss for four yards or sack for four yards, check. One of 'em gets valued a little bit more in the stat game, but they both affect the game the same way. And I think that he's just done a good job of just being consistent and battling through some of the stuff that people do to him.” The scary thing is that Garrett turns 29 later next month. “I think he's just starting to hit his prime,” Schwartz said. “I think he still has a lot left in front of him and there's really, sky is the limit as far as he goes.
Keepin’ the faith – Despite the Browns possessing a less than 1% chance to make the playoffs according to NFL.com at 3-8 Garrett eyes that opportunity over repeating as Defensive Player of the Year. “I want to go to the playoff. So however we can find ourselves winning this next one and then the one after that until we get to the end of the year, that's what I'm trying to do. And if I can be integral in that, that's all I'm working towards. There were times where people were saying I should sit, I should rest. But no, I have big aspirations for this team. I know what we can do and the type of men that we have in here. There was no time to rest and there isn’t now. We have a job to do and the door still open even if it's a glimmer, even if it's just cracked and we have a way to get into the playoffs. We look at these next six games as playoff games. So I'm going to give my very best shot and be the best I can be.”
Circled on the calendar – When the schedule came out, receiver Jerry Jeudy quickly noticed the Week 13 game – a return trip to Denver on Monday night Football. “I'm ready to go over there and win a football game,” Jeudy said. “You always want to beat the opposing team that you used to play for. That's just the competitive nature of us athletes.” Getting out of Denver was a priority for the former No. 15 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. “It didn't hurt at all because that's what I wanted,” Jeudy said of the trade to Cleveland in March. The Browns gave him a three-year, $52.5 million contract shortly after the trade. “I just felt I needed a first start, a new atmosphere and now I'm here,” Jeudy said. “I'm excited about that.” Jeudy is on his way to a career year as he leads the team with 45 catches for 645 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Sack masters – The Broncos defense leads the NFL with 44 sacks so far this season, the most by the club through 12 games since they had 47 in 1986, which presents quite the challenge for the Browns rejuvenated offensive line. “They have good players,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “Zach Allen is playing really well. One of the top pressure guys. He is active. Good hands can turn the corner well. Franklin-Myers, they got from Jets this off season and he's been more of an inside guy for him rushing. He's played really good and they're two edge guys, like I said, (Nik) Bonitto has been flying off the edge and he has 10 sacks now and they work well together, you know what I mean? They understand their strengths and they've been getting teams in these passing situations where they can get the quarterback and it's kind of like the Steelers front too, in their base defense and even their nickel defense, they have five guys on the line a lot. So a lot of it's one-on-one matchups and they can win those one-on-one matchups more often than not.”
Not again – Safety Juan Thornhill suffered another calf injury on Monday. He did not practice Thursday and Friday. “Remains to be seen if he makes it this week,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “He's trending in the right direction, but we'll see where it goes.”
Unavailable – Jedrick Wills Jr.’s prospects of playing this week seem slim as he continues to deal with a knee injury. If Wills is unable to play, it will be the fourth game in five weeks and seventh this season Wills has missed.
Injury report – DNP: WR Cedric Tillman (concussion), TE Geoff Swaim (concussion), DT Sam Kamara (head), S Juan Thornhill (calf), LT Jedrick Wills Jr. (knee); LIMITED: CB Myles harden (Tibia), OT Germain Ifedi (biceps), CB Greg Newsome II (abdomen) ;FULL: LG Joel Bitonio (elbow), DT Maurice Hurst (shoulder), WR Jerry Jeudy (knee)