GREEN BAY, Wis. — Myles Garrett knows he doesn’t have to say it.
After Saturday’s 24-22 Christmas Day loss to the Green Bay Packers, anyone who remotely cares about the Cleveland Browns knows the frustration that Garrett was wearing on his face after another close Cleveland loss in a year that began full of promise.
“It’s frustrating for everybody watching,” Garrett said. “If you’re a Browns fan, you’re frustrated. If you’re a Browns player you’re frustrated. If you have anything to do with us, you know that we’ve had our chances. We just haven’t converted, we haven’t capitalized. I don’t have to tell you how frustrated we are or I am. It’s obvious.”
The Browns (7-8) have now lost six games this season by six points or fewer. Two of those losses have come in the last six days, after Cleveland fell 16-14 to the Las Vegas Raiders at home Monday on a last-second field goal by Daniel Carlson.
In Saturday’s 24-22 loss, the Packers capitalized on interceptions by Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. The three picks Mayfield threw in the first half equated to 21 points for Green Bay as quarterback Aaron Rodgers turned the takeaways into three touchdowns. The fourth and final Mayfield interception came on what could have been the game-winning drive for the Browns with under a minute to play.
The Browns’ defense, meanwhile, kept Rodgers from finding the end zone in the second half when he didn’t have those short fields to work with. During the fourth quarter, the defense also forced two three-and-outs that kept Cleveland in the game until the final minute.
Despite the frustration, true to his nature Garrett wasn’t willing to point fingers after the game. He said he would support Mayfield as long as he was the quarterback of the team, adding that there’s always something the defense can improve on, too.
“I mean, it’s frustrating as hell,” Garrett said. “But that’s not my side of the ball. That’s not our side of the ball on defense. They can point the finger and say we should have got more takeaways. But at the end of the day, if you start laying blame on someone else then you can’t focus on yourself and what you need to do better.
“So right now, we’re going back to the drawing board on the defensive side of the ball and seeing how we can fix what we did wrong in that first half and how we can take the ball away, because if we do, it’s a different game.”
Adding to the frustration for Garrett this week is the groin injury he’s playing through that was largely responsible for him making just one tackle and landing one quarterback hit on Saturday.
The defensive end was injured during the fourth quarter of the Raiders game on Monday, but remained in the game, and even jumped high enough to nearly block the game-winning Carlson kick.
After that game, Garrett said, “ you’re going to have to kill me to take me off that field or you’re going to have to break my leg,” so it’s unsurprising that Garrett wanted to fight through his injury for this matchup with the AFC North standings as close as they are and the season nearly over. But in the leadup to the Packer’s game, Garrett’s injury was serious enough to keep him off the practice field for the entire week. On Thursday, coach Kevin Stefanski said Garrett was probably “50/50″ to play.
Afterward, it was clear Garrett was in discomfort as he walked to the postgame podium to meet with the media. He said the injury felt “like s—-,” but that he felt a responsibility to play.
“When I got out there and got in my stance for the first time I knew it was going to be kind of tough,” Garrett said. “And I’m just about being who I said I would be and doing it for my guys. Doing it for my teammates, my coaches, everybody who’s a part of the Browns organization. I have a responsibility and a duty to give it my all, regardless of how I feel, whether I’m sick, while I’m hurt, while I’m injured.
“If I can go out there and I can play and I can try to be a force on defense, I’m going to try and give every last bit of energy that I’ve got.”
Garrett’s attitude of playing through an injury of this caliber hasn’t gone unnoticed by his teammates.
Linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. called Garrett “a warrior” after the game.
“We know the Myles, the 100% healthy — and shoot, even when he’s not healthy, he’s still a superhuman,” Walker said. “For him to stand out there and fight with us, that nagging injury, that’s tough man. That’s a true leader right there.”
At this point in his career, Garrett is comfortable having high standards not just for himself, but for everyone around him. It’s why he called out the Browns’ lack of in-game adjustments in that 45-7 loss to the Patriots last month. It’s why after the Browns Week 13 bye, he said their focus could be better. Those same high standards are why he was able to break the Browns’ single-season sack record with 15.0 and counting this year.
The Browns may not be in the driver’s seat when it comes to their own destiny anymore, but Garrett will continue to have those high standards when it comes to controlling what this team can.
First up: Getting a win in Pittsburgh on Jan. 3.
“Win in Pittsburgh,” Garrett said. “We haven’t done it often enough here. And we need some wins. If we win there, win at home, then we have a chance. It’s not up to us like you said, but we have to go out there and see what we can make of it.”
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