BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is a leader by the way he plays on the field, and his teammates have taken notice.
Coach Hue Jackson empowered his players to select their captains for the 2018 regular season, and despite being in only his second NFL season, Garrett was one of five permanent captains chosen, along with quarterback Tyrod Taylor, linebacker Christian Kirksey, offensive lineman Joel Bitonio and punter Britton Colquitt.
“I’m not surprised by Myles because I think he’s becoming that kind of player,” Jackson said after making the announcement following Wednesday’s practice. “I think the more vocal he becomes, the better we’ll become. That’s just going to be the challenge for him.”
Quiet in his comments to the media, Garrett has shown plenty of leadership to his teammates and coaches, and there was an example of that in the season finale of “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns” on HBO Tuesday night.
Garrett spent several minutes working with a more veteran player, former Browns defensive end Nate Orchard, following one of the final practices of the preseason on being consistent with his stance despite the type of play he thinks opposing offenses will run.
“I’ve witnessed that firsthand in his meetings,” Jackson said. “That’s just him. He does a good job of mentoring. Whether you’re older players or younger players, I think people respect him because of talent. I think, hopefully, they’ll respect him more because of what he does on the field, week in and week out.
“That’s how you build the type of player we think he’s going to be, so I think that’s how people see him, but he’s done a good job that way. He’s always there to help in any situation with his teammates.”
Garrett was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M.
Despite being limited to 11 games because of a high ankle sprain suffered in the lead-up to the 2017 regular-season opener and a concussion later in the year, Garrett registered 31 total tackles, including 19 solo stops and 12 assists, along with a Browns-best seven sacks and one pass defended.
“I just think it’s kind of happening organically, and then, every now and then, I kind of try to get it out of him a little bit more because I think the best players have big impacts on games, and when they speak, everybody kind of listens,” Jackson said of Garrett’s leadership.
“Again, he needs to do it on a consistent basis. We’ve seen signs of it, and I think he knows he’s got to go do it, and we’ve got to do it in what kind of games? These kind of games.
“I think he’s fooling you guys a little bit. I think it’s in there. I really do. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it more lately than ever before. It’s in there. I think he’s finally starting to let it out.”
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