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Myles Garrett says Browns have to 'earn just a privilege to wear these colors'
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- Myles Garrett says Browns have to 'earn just a privilege to wear these colors'
BEREA — The front office sent a shockwave through the Browns locker room Tuesday with the trade of wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills . The message was received loud and clear by their best player .
"Anybody could be next," Garrett said Friday. "I mean, when you lose, the door is open for anyone, so how you keep from losing your job or getting moved anywhere else, you have to play your ass off. You have to show you earned the right to be here, earn the right to be on the field, earn the right to rush."
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Garrett doesn't want that to be the case, mind you. He insists he wants to stay in Cleveland .
However, Garrett understands that production remains the coin of the realm for remaining a franchise stalwart, So far, he's done that with a team-high four sacks and 26 total pressures, despite having dealt with feet and leg issues this season.
"You earn just a privilege to wear these colors," Garrett said. "It is an honor and privilege to be here and to do this job every day, and if you're not doing it then someone else will step up and take your place. That goes for anyone, myself included. So we've all got to be better, and I take it that seriously. I take it to heart and I am with the guys to match my intensity."
What Garrett wants to do while in Cleveland, though, is win. That's not what the Browns have done to this point in the season, mired in a four-game losing streak that has left them 1-5.
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The Browns finally play an AFC North opponent Sunday when the Cincinnati Bengals (2-4) come to Cleveland. Despite the skid they careen into the game with, Garrett said the solution can be easy to identify but really difficult to execute.
"You can't be discouraged by what's happened before and you can't be looking at everyone around you as far as team-wise, thinking, 'Wish we would've done this' or 'Wish we could have had that,'" Garrett said. "None of that helps the situation. The only thing that's going to help the situation is winning. That means winning every rep. … It's going to take even more and dialing up even more every week, because that intensity can only grow, because every game on out is a playoff game, especially with an AFC opponent."
This specific AFC opponent has been the perfect one to cross the Browns' path in recent years. The Browns own a six-game home win streak against the Bengals, and have won six of the last eight overall and nine of the last 12.
Garrett has been the biggest reason, at least individually, why the Browns have owned the Battle of Ohio of late. That's even with Cincinnati having finished with a better record in two of the last three seasons, when it went to the Super Bowl three years ago and back to the AFC championship game two years ago.
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"Man, that's not a stat that I was aware of and not going to bother me none," Garrett said. "Well, we got to be 1-0, for reasons more than that. I may have a job to come in here and win and we have a job to defend our home territory, so we're going to do our job the best we can."
The NFL's reigning Defensive Player of the Year has dominated the Bengals since being taken No. 1 overall in 2017. His 12 career sacks against Cincinnati are the most against any opponent, two more than he's recorded against the New York Jets .
Garrett has specifically had success against Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow , another former No. 1 overall pick. He's sacked Burrow eight times while pressuring him 21 times, part of the 20 sacks the Browns have on the Cincinnati quarterback.
"There's not a lot of quarterbacks like Joe," Garrett said. "There's only maybe two or three in the tier that he's in. So I would say absolutely it brings out your best. You have to and as much as you try to dial it up every week, try to attack it every week, there's a bit of a hint of that increased competition and that heightened awareness and that urgency that you just know as a competitor you really have to bring it this week because you know you have some guys like [Bengals wide receivers] Ja'Marr [Chase] and Tee [Higgins] and Burrow. …
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"So you've got to bring everything you've got for this kind of game, especially with it being a division game."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Myles Garrett says Amari Cooper trade shows 'anybody could be next'
