As Cleveland Browns fans everywhere know, it’s always something with Browns. This week’s thing is this thing: All-Pro defensive end Miles Garrett, the team’s best defensive player, and perhaps the best player overall, may or may not play on Sunday, when Brown travels to Atlanta to play a game with the Hawks.
On Monday this week, Garrett and a passenger were involved in a single car accident, when he lost control of his car, which hit a fire hydrant, and rolled several times.
Garrett, who has a history of driving fast, told an Ohio Highway Patrol guy that he believed he was traveling at 65 mph in a 45 mph zone. Garrett, who weighs 6-4, 272 pounds, suffered a left shoulder sprain and a strain on his right bicep, as well as cuts and bruises that led to his brief hospitalization.
“Definitely grateful to be here with what I saw, the pictures, I think it was a hell of a thing,” said Garrett, who met reporters Friday for the first time since the accident. In the past, Jarrett has been cited multiple times for driving at excessive speeds.
“That would definitely be a wake-up call for me, just try to be generally smart about driving,” said Garrett, who cited the loss of control of the car. He hasn’t trained with the team this week, and was listed as suspect in Sunday’s game in Atlanta.
“We’ll use the next 24 to 48 hours to see how he continues to respond to treatment and then make a decision about it,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said when asked about Jarrett’s situation in Sunday’s game.
Not having Jarrett in the game against the Hawks would be a huge blow to Brown’s team, who are leading 2-1, coming out 29-17 over their biggest rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, on Thursday last week.
Compounding Garrett’s potential loss in Sunday’s game is that the Browns’ other defensive end, Jadevion Clooney, is also listed as questionable in Sunday’s game, due to an ankle injury.
The injuries come at a bad time for Brown’s side, who, had they not given up a potential win by allowing the Jets to score two goals in the last two minutes of the Sept. 18 game, would have done it 3-0.
Instead, Cleveland is 2-1, with some future opponents lying in the grass. Brown’s schedule gets tougher after Sunday’s game with 1-2 Falcons. Cleveland’s next seven games after Atlanta will be with the Chargers, Patriots, Ravens, Bengals, Dolphins, Bills and Buccaneers.
Working for Cleveland is that even with quarterback Jacobi Brisset running the show, the Browns are ranked eighth in the NFL in offensive team. One of the main reasons for this is Cleveland’s strong running game. Led by Nick Chubb and Karim Hunt, the Cleveland leads the NFL in the fast yards. The Browns average 197 rushing yards per game.
Chubb leads the NFL in the 341-yard dash. He also leads the league with 113.9 rushing yards per game.
Cleveland’s next eight games, beginning with Atlanta on Sunday and ending with Tampa Bay on November 27, will cover the remaining 11 games of quarterback Deshaun Watson’s suspension, for violating the NFL’s player conduct policy.
