Myles Garrett still hasn't moved past Browns playoff loss to Houston

Myles Garrett has never been shy about his desire to win personal accolades. The Cleveland Browns superstar defensive end has discussed personal records as well as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in the past.

Heading into 2024, he already has the franchise record for the most sacks in a season and the most in team history. He also won his first DPOY award in 2023 after leading Cleveland to 11 wins while they had a revolving door at quarterback.

Despite this, don't trick yourself into believing Garrett's satisfied. He surely feels good about what he's accomplished but when speaking to the media following a mid-week practice during minicamp, Garrett made it clear that he's not gotten past their quick playoff exit.

“It’s definitely at the forefront of my mind always. That’s the last taste of football that we all had. I plan to make that apparent to everyone and continue to keep it as motivation for myself. We stepped out. We didn’t get the job done. We didn’t execute, and we fell short of our goals” — Garrett said via Jacob Roach, Browns Wire

Cleveland went 11-6 but then struggled in a 45-14 loss in the Wild Card Round. They had no answers for C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins on one side of the ball and Joe Flacco never looked comfortable on the other.

Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns want more in 2024

Garrett isn't alone in letting this loss stick with him. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz also opened up about the loss recently and blamed himself. He said he was pressing as a play-caller and they put too much emphasis on making the big play — rather than letting the game come to them.

Cleveland made several changes to their offense as they look to make a deeper run this season but the defense remains nearly identical. Outside of Jordan Hicks, Devin Bush and rookie Michael Hall, the Browns will lean on the same core of players they did in 2023.

That's not a bad thing since this defense was so impressive. Now, they're motivated as well — especially Garrett who wants to get the taste of losing out of his mouth.

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