CLEVELAND, Ohio — Myles Garrett limped to his locker after Sunday’s 21-15 loss to the Giants, and then sat there grimacing for a few minutes before tilting his head back and letting out an “oooh.”
He then gingerly put on his sneakers and walked to the podium in the adjacent interview room very slowly and with a pronounced limp.
Garrett headed into the game with injuries to both feet, and came out in much worse pain and residual injuries to his lower legs. He visited the medical tent twice, once in the second quarter and once in the fourth, and had to be helped off the field on the latter after remaining down on the field for a few moments with his head in his hands and buried in the turf.
He’ll undergo an MRI on Monday, the first on these injuries this season, to see if he can play next Sunday in Las Vegas.
“A whole lot of things going on, but like I said before, it’s part of the game,” he said. ” I’m not going to make excuses, excuses don’t win this game. So I’m going to continue to do recovery, my treatment, everything that I’m required and more, and be out there and be the player that we need.”
He wouldn’t predict the outcome of the MRI.
“I’m not concerned about something I don’t know about,” he said. “So, get the results, we’ll move from there. At this point, I’m going to continue to move as I have and look forward to playing the next game until someone tells me otherwise.”
He acknowledged that the foot injuries, which he revealed on Friday are likely related to the two surgeries he had at ages 11 and 12 to correct his flat feet, have led to other problems. At one point, the T.V. broadcast said he was dealing with a calf injury.
“It’s the foot, but like I said, it’s more than just the foot,” he said. “There’s multiple things going on. I mean, I think the foot’s feeling good or feeling better. It’s one thing or another, so it’s kind of just feeding into each other right now. Nothing’s sitting right because nothing has time to heal because I’m leaning on something else and I’m compensating here to make something hurt there. It’s just been, like I said, a cycle.”
He noted that he has “ailments on both sides. Lean on one leg, another one hurts, lean on one leg, the other one hurts. I mean, so just like I said, a combination and I was going to get up from those things as best as I can. Wrap me up, take me up. Let’s go.”
The biggest pain he felt on Sunday, though, was the L in the win-loss column. The Browns dropped to 1-2 overall and 0-2 at home where they dominated last season. A team couldn’t come into Huntington Bank Field without quaking in its cleats a little over the No. 1 defense in the land. But this season, the Browns have been humiliated twice at home by the underdog.
“Just hate losing,” Garrett said. “There’s just something that sits wrong within me more with losing than with dealing with any injury. So we always talk about it takes everything, you’re willing to die for it, that yada, yada, yada. But when push comes to shove, when you’re not feeling well, when you’re sick, you’re tired, you’re hurting, you’re injured and you’re back against the wall, you got to look yourself in the mirror and be like, am I really about this? And I’m about it every single time. So if I have the opportunity, as long as they give me the green light, I’m going to go. And that’s every time.”
On his second trip to the tent, the one on which he needed help from the medical staff, fans chanted his name. It sounded a whole lot better than the boos at halftime and in the third quarter.
“I felt empowered to continue to give my best for not only for my team but for the fans, for our organization,” he said. “And that’s the kind of things that you dream of and it’s not the situation we wanted to be in with the score, but with that kind of support behind myself and us, that’s when you step up and make plays and we made plays down the stretch, but we needed to make a couple more, but that’s the stuff that you play for. So I’m going to continue to make us as Browns proud and do my best.”
Garret hit the mobile and strong Daniel Jones three times, but was unable to get him down. Jones was outstanding, especially in the first half when he went 17 of 19 for 178 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 140.8 rating. He finished 24 of 34 for 236 yards and the two TDs for a 109.4 rating, and was sacked twice. He got hot with his rookie receiver Malik Nabers, the No. 6 overall pick out of LSU, who caught 8 of 12 targets for 78 yards and 2 TDs, both in the first half en route to a 21-7 lead.
“They just executed well,” Garrett said. “Getting us up-field running, running those screens, those quick swings and just keeping us off balance and not allowing us up front to really dictate the pace of the game by continuing to get the ball out in a variety of ways quickly.”
Garrett said the Giants, who had an excellent gameplan, used the Browns’ aggressiveness against them. It didn’t help that a Ronnie Hickman interception on their second drive was wiped out by a Greg Newsome II roughing call after he hit Jones in the helmet.
“They had some really good play calls,” Garrett said. “I’m not saying that we didn’t, but it’s about us getting out of the stack as D linemen, making those plays when they cut inside and that’s flying downhill. It’s a combination of both, especially when it’s quick, we have to jump on it. We have to make sure that we don’t miss tackles. We had a few too many missed tackles as well that could have set them back and helped us on those drives.”
Deshaun Watson, who fought through eight sacks and 17 hits and gave the Browns three chances to win in the fourth quarter, appreciates Garrett’s warrior mentality.
“We just want Myles to be healthy and be out there and be 100%,” he said. “He’s giving everything he’s got too. And we all are. At the end of the day, that’s one thing that this team is going to do is going to compete even when you’re banged up and all that.”
On Friday, Garrett noted that the Giants were desperate for a win and would play like it. Now he knows what that feels like.
“In situation we’re in, we’re just as desperate,” he said. “We’re both 1-2, so we’ve got to continue to come with that kind of fire and effort and now the execution just has to take it the next level.”
With that, Garrett, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, hobbled away from the podium and down the Huntington Bank Field corridor, in as much pain as when he walked up. Hopefully for him and the Browns, his season won’t become a footnote.
