Myles Garrett apparently benched for disciplinary reasons on Saturday
Browns captain and Pro Bowler Myles Garrett was benched by the team for the first defensive series in Saturday’s 17-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints, which officially eliminated them from playoff contention.
Cleveland Browns veteran and leader Myles Garrett was benched by coaches on Saturday for the team’s first possession on defense. Head coach Kevin Stefanski called the choice to sit Garrett a “team decision” in his press conference with the media on Monday. Stefanski would not elaborate further on the issue and will keep it internal, as he has done in the past.
Stefanski has a history of disciplining players for periods of time due to violations of the team rules. Earlier this season, Grant Delpit was benched for the first play of the game due to an undisclosed issue with the team, which cost him a start.
In addition to Delpit, Perrion Winfrey was sent home from the practice facility several weeks ago and not permitted to practice before becoming a healthy scratch as a disciplinary action due to a team issue.
Under the circumstances, the benching of Garrett seems rather important and more than a tiny issue. In a must-win game for the Browns to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, their star player was forced to be benched by Stefanski. The move does not bode well for the 4 time Pro Bowler.
With Jadeveon Clowney already being forced to miss Saturday’s game with a concussion, Chase Winovich and rookie Alex Wright were placed into the starting lineup while Garrett served his time for a likely violation of team rule(s).
Garrett ended up playing 36 of 54 defensive snaps in the game that eliminated Cleveland from postseason contention.
Last week, Garrett missed two days of practice because of an illness and returned to the practice field on Friday. Garrett was the Browns’ team captain and walked out to midfield pregame to do the coin toss before missing the first possession.
Stefanski confirmed on Monday that conversations have yet to be held regarding the possibility of shutting down star players, like Garrett, for the rest of the regular season due to a lingering shoulder injury now that their playoff hopes are officially out of reach.
Browns fans might have to wait until next season to see their star defensive end in game action barring anything unforeseen this offseason. Fans are beginning to speculate and chatter about the possibility of Garrett being moved out of Cleveland, which will not happen.
