CLEVELAND -- After missing the first four weeks of the 2017 regular season because of a high ankle sprain suffered in the week leading up to the home opener, Cleveland Browns rookie defensive end Myles Garrett has made an impact in each of his first two professional outings.
Despite being limited in two games against the New York Jets and Houston Texans, Garrett has registered three sacks and seven total tackles.
“I feel like you can expect better,” Garrett said. “Just going to keep on progressing throughout the season, so hopefully, my snaps improve as well.”
Garrett talked about how much he looked forward to getting his first career sack in the NFL, and it took him all of one series to accomplish that goal in front of the home fans.
With the Jets facing a third-and-five from their own 31-yard line, quarterback Josh McCown dropped back into the shotgun formation, but on delayed pressure after running a stunt, Garrett rushed through the line of scrimmage and collected his first NFL sack.
Garrett’s play on third down forced a Jets punt.
Garrett once again sacked McCown late in the second quarter.
With the Jets facing a third-and-eight from their own 16-yard line and pressure collapsing the pocket, McCown attempted to run to the left side of the formation to extend his passing lane, but Garrett broke free from the block of left tackle Kelvin Beachum and brought down the quarterback by the shoe tops, which forced another New York punt.
Garrett followed up his performance in the Jets game with a sack of rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson in last week’s loss to the Texans at NRG Stadium in what was the Arlington native’s return to Texas after a standout career at Texas A&M led to him being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
“I missed out on a couple of big plays, but that is what happens when you don’t get there,” Garrett said. “Either you get your hand on him and you take him down or you get there a little bit quicker, just how quick you can go through those fractions at a time.”
With the Browns continuing their search for the first win of the regular season heading into Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans at FirstEnergy Stadium, Garrett is focused on making a bigger difference.
“You really don’t try to show your hand completely throughout the first games, at least for me,” Garrett said. “I still have some stuff that I haven’t pulled out or used. I’m going against a really good tackle, Taylor Lewan. Hopefully, I can throw a curveball at him and make some plays.
“This week, it doesn’t matter who it is, they chip a lot. We will be getting chipped most downs. We just have to make sure to chip the chipper and go into our rush.”
