Myles Garrett really thought he had made a great play. He closed in on Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, got a hand on Jackson’s arm and was in the process of notching his league-leading 15th sack when Jackson made an even more incredible play. Jackson somehow wriggled just free enough to awkwardly launch a perfect strike to tight end Mark Andrews, who was uncovered in the end zone for what would prove the game-deciding touchdown in Sunday night’s 16-10 Browns loss.
After the play, Garrett shook Jackson’s hand. That action drew some indignant outrage from a lot of folks. Fans and media openly questioned if Garrett cared about losing. The potential NFL Defensive Player of the Year sees it a little differently.
“I said it was a hell of a play, and [Jackson] told me, ‘Good stuff,’ but more explicit,” Garrett said after the game. “Man made a hell of a play. That’s what he does. I hit his arm while he was throwing. I was expecting it to be a fumble or an incomplete pass, and he gets it 30 yards down the field into the end zone. Guy’s a great player.”
Garrett faced considerable criticism from keyboard warriors everywhere, but he doesn’t see being respectful to the game and a worthy opponent as being deserving of scorn.
“I dapped him up because I have sportsmanship, at least in my eyes. I help guys up. I dap them up when they make a hell of a play like that one that he made. I don’t think anything should come out of us having respect for our opponent. I don’t think there should be any doubt in our heart of who we are on that field.”
For a player who is still trying to escape the long shadow of the worst moment of his professional life, people slamming Garrett for praising Jackson for a truly incredible play is an odd turn.