Browns star Myles Garrett ruled out of regular-season finale against Cincinnati Bengals

BEREA — Kevin Stefanski named one player the Browns won't play in Sunday's regular-season finale at the Cincinnati Bengals on Wednesday when the head coach said quarterback Joe Flacco wasn't going to start. Instead, it's going be recently-signed Jeff Driskel.

On Friday, Stefanski announced another one, although league reporting rules forced his hand on this one.

All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett was ruled out against the Bengals after he did not practice on Friday. Stefanski said after practice, "He was sore. So, didn’t practice.”

Even if Stefanski hadn't been willing to offer up Garrett's name, the Browns' injury report would've made it crystal clear, where he was listed with the shoulder injury that has bothered him since the Week 12 loss at Denver and a new hamstring issue. The All-Pro defensive end was one of six players officially ruled out for what is, essentially, a meaningless game for both the playoff-bound Browns (11-5) and the offseason-bound Bengals (8-8).

The injury designation officially settles the question that lingered earlier in the week of whether or not Garrett would play in a game in which the Browns were looking to rest several key starters. There were some who wondered if his Defensive Player of the Year candidacy would impact a decision, although Stefanski had addressed that earlier in the week.

"I mean I don't know that Myles needs to do anything more on a football field to convince anyone how important he's been to our football team," Stefanski said Wednesday. "Said it before, I'll say it again. I mean he's the best player on the best defense in the National Football League. That counts for something. I would say just talk to the coaches that he goes against, ask them what they think about him as a player, the type of impact he has on the game. So we'll see if he plays on Sunday, but I don't think that should be a determining factor in any way, shape or form."

Garrett finished the regular season with 14 sacks, two shy of the single-season franchise record 16 he posted in both 2021 and last season. He's the only player in the league to record at least 14 sacks in a season each of the last three seasons, and the only player to record at least 10 sacks each of the last six seasons.

One player who will gain from Garrett's absence is second-year defensive end Alex Wright. Over the past three games, Wright has taken off with at least one sack in each of those games, giving him four sacks on the season.

“I feel like I’ve grown a lot compared to being around the guys dating back to last year," Wright said. "I feel like I learned a lot. I just credit everything to the coaches and whatnot. Just being more comfortable out there on the field. I don’t have to think as much. I don’t have to worry about technical stuff, just actually just trusting myself and just staying confident. Just doing that and the rest takes care of itself. When I thought about that, it was like, OK, got everything under control.”

The increase in playing time in that span for Wright directly coincides with defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo's pec injury. Okoronokwo has missed three consecutive games with the injury, which he sustained in Week 14 against Jacksonville.

When the injury occurred, the fear was it would be season-ending for Okoronkwo. Instead, for the first time since leaving the Jaguars game, he was not given an injury designation for the Cincinnati game after being a limited practice participant all week.

Okononkwo is not officially a go against the Bengals. Stefanski said, "There's a good chance he makes it to the game. Give him some playing time, but really need to see how he responds over the next 48 hours.”

Whether or not Okoronkwo plays against Cincinnati, it's a positive step for the young edge rusher, who seems likely to play once the playoffs begin.

"I'm definitely excited," Okoronkwo said. "I wasn't going to miss this for the world at the beginning of the season. That's what you are working for, what your goal is, the Super Bowl. So I definitely want to be on this run as we make this run on the Super Bowl to the Super Bowl. So I'm really happy, I'm excited and I hope I just keep progressing how I have been."

The Browns, along with Garrett, also ruled out receiver Amari Cooper (heel), cornerbacks Greg Newsome II (knee) and Mike Ford Jr. (calf), safety Juan Thornhill (calf) and kicker Dustin Hopkins (left hamstring). Receivers Elijah Moore (concussion) and Marquise Goodwin (knee), punter Corey Bojorquez (left quad) and linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk (calf) were listed as questionable.

Moore remains in the concussion protocol as of Friday afternoon, according to Stefanski. However, "he’s trending the right way," the head coach said.

The biggest question, though, is how all of these injuries will impact the Browns the following weekend when they open the playoff at the winner of the AFC South, be it Jacksonville, Indianapolis or Houston.

"It's so hard to say," Stefanski said. "Honestly, every single one of these injuries are different. We just got to treat them as such and make smart decisions based on where the guys are."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Myles Garrett ruled out of regular-season finale against Bengals