CLEVELAND -- By all accounts, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is a mild-mannered, easy-going person that is very intellectual, using his time away from the game to study history and paleontology.
But for opponents of the Cleveland Browns, they should not take that exterior for granted in-between the lines on the football field because Garrett is aiming to put his hard work during the week leading up to games into collapsing pockets and tackling quarterbacks behind the line of scrimmage.
“If he stays healthy, watch out,” defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said. “Now, we have to become better in the back end. Allow the quarterback to hold the ball longer than 2.13 seconds, now watch. In camp, he went out here in this whole camp, if you were to ask anybody on the offensive staff or ask anybody on the offensive line who gives them nightmares, it would be him.
“Tyrod has gone, ‘Yeah, better get rid of it quick. Better know where he is.’ They did not do certain things in camp to where they can do some double protections and shift protections because we do not want to hurt anybody, but Myles has taken another big step. Staying healthy, I would see him making a big breakout year. Have to stay healthy and have to stay on the field.”
PHOTOS: Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett not satisfied with good, wants to be great NFL player
Despite being limited to 11 games because of ankle injuries and a concussion, Garrett registered 31 total tackles, including 19 solo stops and 12 assists, along with a Browns-best seven sacks and one pass defended during the 2017 season.
Because of that production, Garrett was named to the Pro Football Writers’ Association All-Rookie Team.
“He is easy going, but here is another thing that I would say about him -- I push him a little bit in this way -- I do not think that leadership has any age,” Williams said. “I think that leadership starts with example. If you are providing the right example, then when you open your mouth, holy cow, somebody might listen to you.
“His example of how hard he works, how diligent he is, how much he understands, his feel for the game and his overall intelligence -- it is not IQ intelligence, it is normal common-sense intelligence -- makes him want to be asked a question. His leadership will be more, but not unless he is willing to set the example with his effort, his technique, his playmaking and his production.”
Garrett got the message from Williams, loud and clear, and put the motivation into action during the final days of the offseason workouts.
The 6-foot-4, 272-pound Garrett ran conditioning drills not with the defensive linemen, but rather, the defensive backs, many of whom had “a hard time keeping up” despite being nearly 80 pounds lighter than the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
And that is the kind of effort the Browns expect from Garrett every time he takes the field.
“I am just looking, ‘Wow,’” Williams said. “That is what I am talking about. Nobody told him to do that. That was him. He is doing a good job in leadership. He is. He is not too vocal. Right now, it is just right.
“He and Denzel (Ward) have fit in extremely well in the locker room not only because of ability, because guys say, ‘I respect your ability,’ but they respect their behavior. They respect their actions. They respect how they have come in with a respectful attitude. That is important with who you are going to go to war with in a huddle on game day.”