BEREA, Ohio — Browns cornerback Denzel Ward tried hard to make it back from his calf injury Sunday against the Bills, in part so he could be on the field if Myles Garrett sets the NFL single-season sack record.
Unfortunately for him, he’ll sit out for the second straight week, but he’ll be on the sidelines cheering just as hard. Garrett, who leads the NFL with 21.5 sacks, needs just 1.5 to break the record of 22.5 set by Michael Strahan in 2001 and tied by T.J. Watt in 2021.
“I told him ‘Don’t break the record without me out there,’” Ward said Wednesday. “I’ve got to be out there when he breaks the record. But nah, it’s going to mean a lot. I’m hoping he gets it this week and like I said, it’s not a matter of if but when he gets that record. And just a credit to him and the work that he’s put in and the entire defense. You can’t do it alone. But yeah, just big credit to him, big shout out to him. Looking forward to him getting that sack record and getting it done.”
Ward acknowledged that Garrett’s looming record is all the more remarkable considering that the Browns are often playing from behind without many chances to rush the passer.
“Everybody knows he’s a Hall of Fame player and his name’s going to go down in history and we’re all here to witness it,” Ward said. “You can’t say enough great things about Myles Garrett and what he’s able to do on the football field and it’s just great to see.”
Ward recalled the first time he noticed that his teammate was different.
“When I first got drafted here (in 2018), he jammed my finger and hurt my hand just playing around,” Ward said. “I was like, ‘oh yeah, I can’t play with him no more.’ He’s just a large human being. There’s certain people that you just can’t mess around with. But that’s why I know ‘okay, if he’s hurting me just off of just walking around in the locker room, I know what he’s doing to those guys out there.’ Since Day 1 Myles’s been a crazy player just to watch and see him develop over the years.”
Left guard Joel Bitonio also recalled being struck by the realization that Garrett, who’s broken numerous sack records this season, was generational. Since entering the league in 2017, Garrett has 124 sacks, second-most by a player in his first nine seasons since 1982.
“From the first day he got here (I knew),” Bitonio said. “We drafted this guy and he was a freak. He was making things happen. Joe Thomas was not practicing much at that time, so we didn’t get to see him go against each other. Part of that reason probably was because Myles was such a freak, right? (Laughs). He needed some plays off. I had to play left tackle for training camp one year against Myles. and I was like, ‘all right, this isn’t very fun.’ So since day one, he’s been that guy, and I think he’s continued to develop his craft and become even more technical.”
Garrett, 29, has taken down as almost as many records this season as quarterbacks, including Lawrence Taylor’s mark of five seasons with at least 12 sacks, topping it with a sixth season this year.
“His ability (amazes me the most),” Bitonio said. “You see guys that are good in this league and he’s just a step above them. He has every tool you want a pass rusher: his power, his speed, his get off. His ability to bend is underrated. His ankle flexion, where he can bend and turn the corner, is unmatched at his size. There’s guys that can do it at 240 pounds, but if he does it at, I don’t know, 280 pounds. It’s just a different person playing this game and he’s been successful this year.”
He noted that Garrett is close to the record despite opponents getting ahead and not needing to pass.
“It’s even more impressive than what the stats show,” Bitonio said. “He’s been unbelievable this year, and hopefully he can get a few and get the sack record. We’ll try and do our part on offense to make them pass the ball a little more.”
If Garrett is to set the record Sunday against the Bills, he’ll have to sack reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen, who’s been dropped 33 times this season to tie for sixth-most in the NFL. But at 6-5, 237, Allen can be hard to take down.
“He’s a gunslinger himself,” Garrett said. “He’s the kind of guy that I guess you would say Mike (Strahan) got those years ago (Brett Favre). So I think it’s a bit of a funny comparison, because those guys have similar styles, and me and Mike have been compared before. But yeah, it would mean a lot to get it against him because he’s very special. I have a lot of admiration for what he can do for football.”
Like Cam Ward and Caleb Williams before him, Allen hopes to avoid going down in history as Garrett’s sack-record conquest. Allen is already in Garrett’s graveyard, having been sacked once in their two meetings.
“I do like highlight tapes, but I don’t like being part of other people’s highlight tapes,” Allen told reporters in Buffalo this week. “He’s an absolutely tremendous football player. He’s one of the greatest of all time, and yeah, he’s a force to be reckoned with, and we’ve got to be ready for everything that they can throw at us, but you have to be aware of where 95 is at at all times.”
Allen noted “he’s the biggest guy out there, he’s the fastest guy out there, his ability to get off blocks, his motor is really higher than anybody else that you’ll ever play. He can beat you with speed and power, He’s just the all-around football player.”
Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has been just as impressed with Garrett’s 31 tackles for a loss — eight shy of J.J. Watt’s NFL record — but can’t wait for the sack record to drop.
“As soon as he was within five, we all thought he could do it in that game because he’s done that before (against the Patriots),” Schwartz said. “(But) nobody ever sacked a run play … It’s up to us defensively, both individually and scheme and all 11, to force teams to be able to have the drop back and pass, which would help Myles, right? If Buffalo comes out and runs it 60 times, you’re not going to get any sacks.”
Kevin Stefanski has been impressed by the degree of difficulty surrounding Garrett’s sack total. In addition to being constantly double-teamed and chipped with a tight end or running back, Garrett had to overcome a stretch of five games with only 1.5 sacks from Week 3 to Week 7, including three straight games with none. He stormed out of that cold spell with a torrid streak, notching 14 in five games to beat Strahan’s record of 12.5 in 2001.
“You need to look closely at those types of things and how many opportunities he’s getting, and the win rate is probably the most important thing to see when you’re talking about these things,” Stefanski said. “I’ve been really proud of Myles in a lot of areas, but also as he’s working towards this goal, which is an amazing, incredible individual goal, he has not put that in front of the team’s goals. He wants to win so badly.”
He acknowledged that “if it can happen in a win, that’s what’s most important to him. That’s what drives him, and you see that in how he plays every down as opposed to just those pass downs. That’s a great form of leadership for your teammates. It’s not outward, you don’t have to say it, but just how you play down in down out, speaks volumes of the type of player you have.”
Safety Grant Delpit has vowed to help Garrett get the record any way he can, including holding up the QB until Garrett arrives, if necessary.
“That’s one for the history books,” Delpit said of the record. “Like I’ve said, I think he’s going to be the greatest of all time when it’s all said and done. So looking back 10 years or whatever, it’s going to be special. I’m looking forward to it, man. Hopefully he does it in one of our home games.”
If Garrett doesn’t get it Sunday against Allen, he’ll have another chance at home next week against Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers. But for him, there’s no time like the present.
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