CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Myles Garrett was having the season he envisioned for himself and the Browns last year when he was selected No. 1 overall in 2017 only to see it derailed when he contracted COVID-19 in November.
Garrett has long put winning Defensive Player of the Year atop his personal career goals, and 2020 was his first legitimate crack at the award but the virus robbed him of the opportunity to finish strong.
“It sure did. It hurt, too,” Garrett said.
Garrett has named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for October after racking up six sacks in four games and totaled 9.5 sacks prior to getting sick, including three straight games with a strip-sack/forced fumble.
He had just 2.5 sacks over the final five games after returning from the reserve/COVID list that cost him two games.
“Condition-wise, I felt like I was 50 percent,” Garrett said. “I do not think I have ever had to use oxygen so frequently and so early into a game like Tennessee. I do not think I had a huge amount of snaps. I was like hanging on.
“I had like a quarter or maybe a quarter and a half and then I was honestly empty in the tank, and I do not think I have ever been like that. To not feel like that is great. I am glad I have recovered. Hopefully, nothing happens like that to me or anyone else.”
Garrett finished the season with 12.0 sacks, 18 QB hits, 10 tackles-for-loss, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a safety.
Now healthy, Garrett hopes he’ll be able to pick up where he left off prior to contracting the virus this fall.
“I feel great. I feel the best I have since last year before COVID. It is a wonderful feeling,” Garrett said. “I feel like it was kind of a long road. Now that I am back, I am feeling well-conditioned and feeling back on my feet, the world is ahead of me.”
As evidenced by his workout and basketball videos posted on his social media accounts, Garrett is in incredible shape. Others around the NFL have noticed, especially in Pittsburgh, but he declined to say how much more muscle he added this offseason.
“I can’t tell you that. I have to leave it as a mystery to them. If he thinks I look larger than usual, I have to have him shook when I run up on him,” Garrett said. “I am glad they think that. I have been working hard. I feel like I have been trying to elevate myself every year. I have been working on my progression one or two times a day for four or five days. I think it is going to pay off big time, but I do not think I lost any speed so I do not want them to get any ideas that I am a little bit slower because that is not the case.”
Voluntary means voluntary – With key offensive players remaining absent from Berea, head coach Kevin Stefanski is somewhat limited in what can be accomplished on the field until they show up.
“We are just going to adapt and pivot as necessary based on the guys who we have available to us,” Stefanski said Wednesday.
Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, OTAs are voluntary, a point Stefanski mentioned multiple times when asked about attendance.
“This is a voluntary program,” Stefanski said. “The guys who choose to show up will get coached here, and that is under their own volition. I know that is certainly a story that is being written about, but for us, we deal with it very matter of factly. It is a voluntary program. The guys who are here will get coached up, and the guys who are not here, we will see them for mandatory minicamp.”
The NFLPA led by president and Browns center JC Tretter has encouraged veterans to stay away form facilities this offseason. Stefanski has spoken to Tretter about his position but declined to provide details of their discussions out of respect.
“I have had a lot of conversations with many players. I will leave them private, but I think you guys know how I feel about our players,” Stefanski said. “This is a voluntary program. We mean that. If they choose to come here, we want to make sure it is a safe place for them to get instruction from their coaches. Beyond that, really there is nothing else to add.”
Garrett and cornerback Denzel Ward headline the key defenders who showed up this week.
“It is great to see any of the guys who are here,” Stefanski said. “It is hard for me to single those two out. We are excited for the guys who come in and work. That is what it is about, and they are doing a nice job of it, but again, a voluntary program.”
As advertised – Garrett has already made quite an impression on linebacker Anthony Walker, who is among the multiple free agent additions to the defense this year.
“Freak of nature, honestly. Huge person. Huge human being. Probably the most flexible big guy I have ever seen as far as the stuff that I have seen him do in the weight room. Strong. All of that stuff,” Walker said Wednesday. “He is as advertised is what he is, if I have to say it like that. Just watching him on TV and now being able to be his teammate, I am much happier to be his teammate than him sacking my quarterback in the endzone last year.”
Last season Walker and the Colts lost to the Browns 32-23 at FirstEnergy Stadium that saw Garrett register four QB hits and collect a safety.
Bouncing around – With the top two running back spots spoken for, sixth round pick Demetric Felton has his work cut out for him to make the team as a rookie.
Felton spent most of Wednesday working with the receivers, not running backs and he will likely sp-end plenty of time with both position groups leading up to final cuts.
“Demetric played running back and wide receiver previously in college,” Stefanski said. “He has done both with us already. He has been in both meetings. There have been times he is a running back for that day and a wide receiver the next day. It does speak to his versatility. It speaks to his ability to mentally handle that. Versatility is a big deal.”
Felton will primarily be competing with D’Ernest Johnson for the third back spot come training camp and the preseason.
“It is way, way early for those types of conversations now,” Stefanski said. “Now the conversation about competing, that takes place every day at every position. We will let that be determined over the course of the next month, but to say that guys are competing, that is no secret. That is what they are in this business for.”
Return to normalcy – With health orders being lifted and stadiums and arenas returning to full capacity, including the NFL, there’s a chance that training camp will have a much normal feel to it – on and off the field.
“I am hopeful, but I really do not know that far out,” Stefanski said. “I am hopeful obviously to have our fans out here and to have our fans in the building. That is something that I know our players and myself are looking forward to.”
Roll call – 50 players were actively participating on Wednesday while four others – receivers JoJo Natson and Anthony Schwartz along with safety Grant Delpit and linebacker Tony Fields II – were limited and mostly watched with their position groups on the side.
“He is fine,” Stefanski said of Schwartz. “In the offseason, you have a lot of little nicks and guys work through things, they are out for a day and they are back in there and some guys are sick and out for a day. That is the normal course of the offseason.”
