Cleveland Browns: Myles Garrett needs to avoid ‘overworking’
By Dan Justik
The Cleveland Browns organization knows they have a special talent in defensive end Myles Garrett, but they need him to be healthy for a full season to be one of the game’s best.
The Cleveland Browns drafted Myles Garrett first overall in 2017 knowing that he was a relentless worker. Because of his work ethic, Garrett is able to match his elite athletic traits with his skills on the football field.
Garrett showed in 11 games last season that he can be one most talented defensive ends in the NFL. He only played 48.5 percent of the Browns defensive snaps last season – according to Pro Football Reference. But Garrett was still able to make 31 total tackles, including seven sacks, and one forced fumble.
Even with the numbers that Garrett put up, the Browns still want more from Garrett in his second season. The only way that Garrett can do that is to be more available than he was last season.
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Garrett missed five gamesin 2017 with an ankle injury and a concussion. One of the reasons he was not able to play more games was because of slower than usual recovery times from his injuries.
Because of how much work Garrett puts into the game, it is harder for him to be 100 percent for every game. That is something that the Browns coaches want Garrett to work on heading into the 2018 season –via ESPN’s Pat McManamon.
"“He is one of the few guys that I have had to coach that I know I am going to have to keep my hand on to hold back,” defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said. “One of the things with him is his overworking. He works so hard because he does not want to be good; he wants to be great.“Sometimes he can be his own worst enemy in that respect because he works so hard physically that he has to do a good job with recovery also. The next thing is this — and he knows — if he stays healthy, watch out.”"
It is almost a guarantee that Garrett will see an increase in snaps heading into his sophomore campaign. But if Garrett wants to remain effective for an entire game and an entire season, he will have to match however hard he works off the field with the proper amount of recovery.
The Browns front office helped Garrett out with that this off-season by adding more depth to the defensive end position. Cleveland signed Chris Smith and drafted Chad Thomas hoping that they will be able to spell Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah snaps to keep them fresh during a game, and hopefully the rest of the season.
Garrett being able to stay healthy for all 16 games will be one of the factors that will help him potentially break out as one of the NFL’s best defensive players this season.
Not only do the Browns have enough defensive end depth to keep Garrett fresh, the Browns also added talent to the secondary this off-season. Having a better pass defense will give the Browns pass rushers more time to get to the quarterback – something the secondary did not do last season.
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If Garrett understands his body more in 2018 and gets the proper recovery time, look for Garrett to be near the top of the league in sacks this season, and maybe for years to come.