NEW ORLEANS — Myles Garrett did something in the Browns’ Week 9 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that no one’s quite sure has ever been done before in the NFL.
The Browns defensive end put a punctuation on the end of the first quarter, while adding one to the opening of the second quarter by sacking Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert three times in four plays. A dive into the record books hadn’t indicated yet a situation where a single player had accomplished that feat.
Garrett, though, was asked to comb through his own personal history. Had he ever, whether at high school in Arlington, Texas, or in college at Texas A&M, posted something resembling the kind of in-game moment as he did against the Chargers?
“Yeah, I think it was one time, two times in college and one time in high school,” Garrett said Friday. “I had nine sacks in high school. Then, I think, Nevada, maybe UTSA (Texas-San Antonio). I know Nevada for sure. Yeah, I’ve some sacks in my life.”
The Nevada game Garrett referenced was a Sept. 19, 2015, win by Texas A&M in which he recorded 3.5 sacks, which was tied with a 2014 win over Louisiana-Monroe for the second-most in a single college game for him. His career best with the Aggies was a 4.5-sack performance in Nov. 19, 2016, win over UTSA.
Those performances, however, pale in comparison to a performance like Sunday, which is tied for the third-most sacks in a single NFL game for Garrett. The record, for him, remains 4.5 in 2021 against the Chicago Bears, and he also had a 3.5-sack effort last season against the Tennessee Titans.
“In college, they’re like, shoot, we’ll just keep on singling him, or we’ll chip him for the entire game,” Garrett said. “In the pros, they’re like, no, for the entire game, we’re not going to let you get that opportunity. But they have a lot of confidence in their tackles, for good reason. We just have to take advantage of those opportunities.”
The performance in that stretch against the Chargers came after a four-game run in which Garrett hadn’t been able to get to the quarterback for a sack. That stretch came after multiple weeks during which there were questions about various injuries to his feet and lower body that had hampered him over the first four games.
Fresh off a bye week, Garrett was asked where his health stood entering the final eight games on a one to 10 scale. Specifically, how it had improved.
“Ooh man, I would say from a six to, six to an eight,” Garrett said, before adding. “It wasn’t a consistent six. It was up and down. It was definitely tough just because it was so inconsistent from play to play, day to day, with dealing with something or another. So glad I’m over the hill for the most part and could start playing some good football.”
That starts again for Garrett on Sunday when the Browns (2-7) come out of the bye week and play at the New Orleans Saints (3-7). The Saints have allowed only 22 sacks this season, which is tied for 20th-most allowed in the NFL this season.
Garrett figures to get plenty of chances, not just at rookie left tackle Talise Fuaga, but also right tackle Trevor Penning. That’s because as of Friday the Browns only had three defensive ends on their active 53-man roster after last week’s trade of Za’Darius Smith to the Detroit Lions.
That means there’s a good chance Garrett may receive even more snaps than he usually does. According to defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, he already gets quite a few.
“It’s good to see him just being healthy and looking like himself again. He went a few weeks where he just didn’t look 100% like himself,” Schwartz said. “I don’t want to speak for him and his health, but I think you could see it. He was trying to push through things, but he’s starting to get a little bit better as a team.
“We’re getting a little bit better, and it’ll be good to see us close to full strength as we go forward to the second half.”
