Myles Garrett leads the NFL with 9 sacks and is a leading contender for NFL Defensive Player of the Year with his seven forced turnovers. This week’s Cleveland Browns opponent, the Houston Texans, know what Garrett can do all too well.
Interim head coach Romeo Crennel and quarterback Deshaun Watson are both clearly fans of the Browns defensive end. They gushed about Garrett and his ability to impact the game in their press conferences this week.
“He’s got great length, first of all,” Crennel said of Garrett. “He’s good off the ball. He has body flexibility so he can run under blocks. He can get around blocks. He’s got that drive that some of the great pass rushers have. He’s got that drive to get to the quarterback.”
Based on what Crennel said, it seems like the Texans offensive gameplan is to help out the offensive tackles to keep Garrett from ruining the Houston offense.
“You’ve got to know where [Garrett] is,” said Crennel. “That’s the big thing. Then, you’ve got to determine what you need to do on your protection to try to slow him down. Can one guy do it or does that guy need help? You can do that by sliding the line to him. You can do that by chipping him. You can do that by keeping a tight end in. There’s several ways to try to slow him down. As we go into the week, we’ll figure out what the best way for us to do it.”
That was Watson’s big worry, too.
“He’s a guy that we got to make sure that we can try to contain as much as possible and not let him take over the ball game,” said Watson.
Watson expressed a similar awestruck sentiment about Garrett’s physical presence and outstanding production.
“He’s a beast,” Watson said. “He got paid what he deserved. He’s a guy that’s going to come every play. He’s a guy that you have to worry about each and every time. He’s a special talent; very athletic, can run, very powerful, very strong, can bend around the edge.”
They will see Garrett and the Browns up close and personal on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Thanks to Mark Lane from Texans Wire for the quotes!