Myles Garrett of the Browns may have more serious injuries than first believed.
The Cleveland Browns have struggled this season due to injuries to key players, but Myles Garrett is arguably the most important player to the team’s success.
When the Cleveland Browns lost to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, November 26, Garrett claimed to have felt a “pop” in his shoulder. The next day, head coach Kevin Stefanski stated that MRI results revealed no structural damage.
But based on Stefanski’s response to a reporter’s query and the problems Garrett mentioned after the game, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com speculated that the defensive end might be playing with structural issues with his left shoulder.
“On Monday, Kevin Stefanski responded positively to a two-part inquiry concerning Garrett that including the phrase ‘no structural difficulties, however, he never really said that Garrett had no shoulder injuries,” Cabot wrote on Wednesday. “It’s highly unlikely that there isn’t damage inside, given that Garrett “felt a pop” during the game and was unable to lift his shoulder afterwards.”
In the Broncos game, Myles Garrett may have aggravated a prior shoulder injury.
Cabot continued by speculating that Garrett’s more serious problem might have its roots in an earlier injury and that what happened in Denver on Sunday only made the situation worse.
“There is a shoulder issue that has been bothering him for awhile, and it got worse on Sunday, but it doesn’t mean he won’t be able to play or that he won’t need surgery,” Cabot wrote. It might be a fresh injury, like a partial dislocation, or it might be the exacerbation of the AC joint sprain from flipping his Porsche last season. In any case, he will probably be limited at times and play in agony for the remainder of the season.
Although he wasn’t actively participating, Garrett was spotted on the practice field in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to Scott Petrak of Browns Zone.
“Myles Garrett is expected to play on Sunday after missing practice for the second straight day, but he tested the sore left shoulder on the side,” Petrak tweeted. “As his teammates practiced at UCLA, Garrett practiced holding a four-point stance for a few seconds and performed pushups on a plastic exercise ball.”
Garrett’s next opportunity to play football is on December 3, when the Browns travel to Southern California to play the Los Angeles Rams. There won’t be any break for the likely Defensive Player of the Year as he attempts to guide the Browns (7-4) to their first postseason participation since 2020 because Cleveland received an early bye in Week 5.
Given his career statistics thus far, Garrett’s pace for a career season is remarkable.
Garrett has accumulated 29 pressures, 23 QB hits, and 13 sacks in 11 games in 2023. According to Pro Football Reference, he has recorded personal bests of 16 sacks in each of the last two years. This season, Garrett has also blocked a field goal, forced four turnovers, and made three pass breakups.
According to Pro Football Focus’ advanced analytics, Garrett has started the season as the second-best edge defender in all of football.
