CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Myles Garrett is on track to face the Titans Sunday in Tennessee.
The question is, how much will he be on the field?
Garrett was activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday and he practiced for the first time in nearly three weeks on Wednesday.
“He looked good to me,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “We’re going to make sure that we’re smart about how we get him back out there. But checking in with him yesterday, he looked really good, and see how he looks today and just keep an open dialogue.”
Garrett was placed on the list Nov. 20 but did not practice on the 18th or 19th after exhibiting symptoms of the virus.
Earlier this week Garrett posted video of himself working out, but the long-term effects of the virus remain to be seen which is why the Browns plan to be careful with their star defensive end this week.
“We’re talking to him,” defensive coordinator Joe Woods said. “He feels good. I just think it’s the process of bringing him back the right way, so we just monitor his reps each day in practice and kind of see where he’s at, but we do know that he’ll be available to play. We’ll just have to see how many reps we can give him.
“There’s all type of technological advances where we can see where he’s at, as well. We’ll know what he’s capable of on Sunday.”
Missing the last two games has cost Garrett the NFL sack lead. He’s now tied for third with 9.5 sacks and remains tied for the most forced fumbles with four.
Garrett's return comes at the perfect time with the team 8-3 entering December and the NFL's rushing leader Derrick Henry on tap at Tennessee this week.
Finding Balance – Much has been made of Baker Mayfield’s missed throws Sunday in Jacksonville but offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt explained the easiest way to handle moving on from it.
“Don’t overanalyze it, that’s the biggest thing,” Van Pelt said. “It happens. He made four, five, six different throws in that game that were big-time throws and were tight windows, down the field with great accuracy and then he missed a couple easy ones.
“You just don’t overanalyze it. It’s part of the game. You’re going to miss some. You’re going to have guys that have drops that are in their hands and you’re going to miss throws to guys that are open, so that’s just part of the game.”
Mayfield has been outstanding taking care of the football in recent weeks.
Since their Week 7 win at Cincinnati, Mayfield hasn’t thrown an interception in his last 123 attempts after throwing seven picks in the first seven games of the season and 21 of them last season.
“You look at the turnover ratio and how critical that is to the team’s success,” Van Pelt said. “We’re going to be aggressive, he’s going to make the right decisions, it’s finding that balance of when to take that risk. That changes throughout the course of a game. You’re down 10 points late in the game, you’re going to have to fit some balls in there that you may not do early in the game. It’s understanding the importance of not turning that ball over is critical.
“I would gladly take a 5-yard gain over a 20-yard chance of an interception. I think that’s the mindset we have to take.”
Thought Police – Stefanski isn’t investing much time worrying about what his players say – at least that’s his position publicly.
The subject came up Thursday following a comment made earlier this week by receiver KhaDarel Hodge earlier this week when asked about facing the mighty Titans and the confidence they could gain from a victory.
“I think it will help us out a lot. Confidence is major,” Hodge said Monday. “Once we get rolling, then we will get rolling. I do not look at the Titans as a super team – they can get beat like anybody else. We go into this game expecting to win and we are expecting to do our thing. I see this team going deep into playoffs, as far as we can go. No one can stop us but us. That is how we look at it. That is how we are going to keep looking at it. As long as we play our game, we can beat anybody.”
The “super team” remark likely made Titans head coach Mike Vrabel’s bulletin board, prompting the question to Stefanski.
“I will always keep any interactions I have with the players internal,” Stefanski said. “I will just tell you, I support our players. I am not the thought police. I am not going to tell them what to think. But I do make sure that they understand what is important is how we work, and we are not about bluster. We are about just making sure we put our work in.”
Good sport – Each of the 32 teams nominated a player for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award Thursday and the Browns chose running back Nick Chubb.
Teammates joke about Chubb’s quietness in the huddle and his touchdown celebrations get as exciting as teammates hugging him after he drops the football or flips it to an official.
It marks the second straight year Chubb has been the team's nominee for the award.
Injury Report – DNP: CB Denzel Ward (calf); LIMITED: WR KhaDarel Hodge (hamstring), OT Jack Conklin knee), DT Jordan Elliott (knee), C Nick Harris (ankle), RB Kareem Hunt (thigh), DT Vincent Taylor (knee), RG Wyatt Teller (calf), C JC Tretter (knee); FULL: S Sheldrick Redwine (knee), WR Jarvis Landry (hip)
