'How could I have done better?': Browns star Myles Garrett looks to end sack-less streak

BEREA — Myles Garrett's reaction to coming out of a game without a sack is not emotional. Instead, the Browns All-Pro defensive end turns analytical.

“Watch the film over multiple times," Garrett said Friday. "How could I have done better? What did they give me that I didn't take advantage of? I know there weren't many opportunities, but the few that I got I have to be ready when they're there, and then get back in the gym. How can I get myself in tip-top shape to where this can’t happen again? How can I be better cardio-wise, be better physically? Make sure that I'm limber and able to use my full arsenal of moves.”

Garrett has been doing a lot of that over the last couple of weeks. One of the biggest takeaways from the two losses the Browns picked up during their recent two-game western swing through Denver and Los Angeles was the lack of sacks by their defensive line.

When the Browns defensive line is the subject, it very quickly gets distilled down to one defensive lineman in particular. That would be Garrett, the star of that group who enters Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars fifth in the league with 13 sacks.

If the defensive line didn't get any sacks, the critics will extrapolate, then Garrett didn't get any sacks. But Garrett doesn't see it as a competition between him and his defensive line teammates, either.

"It's never, ‘If I'm getting this, y'all should be doing this,’" Garrett said. "We’ve got to find a way together. I'm frustrated for us, not towards us. And we have a high standard. I have a high standard for the guys in our room and the level which we have played and can play. And so it's just comparing ourselves to that we didn't do what we needed to the last two weeks."

Garrett's totals over the two games go beyond the sacks. He had three quarterback hurries, per Pro Football Focus, and no hits on either the Broncos' Russell Wilson or the Rams' Matthew Stafford.

Garrett left the locker room in Denver wearing a sling on his left arm due to a shoulder injury he suffered during the game. The injury clearly had some impact on his performance in a 29-12 loss to the Broncos, a game in which he had two tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass defensed.

The test on the shoulder showed no structural damage, and Garrett played after getting two days of practice off in Los Angeles. He didn't record an official stat in the game, which he credits to "a little bit of everything" that the Rams did — including Stafford's ability to get rid of the ball faster than many quarterbacks the Browns have faced — against him and not the shoulder.

"They showed a little bit more willingness to throw more distractions, throw more people my way at a higher frequency," Garrett said. "The shoulder is what it is, but it's midseason for everyone, so it's no excuse. You got to find a way to recover, get treatment, do all those things to take care of my body and endure the strain of the season. It's about longevity throughout, consistency for the next five so we can make the dance. So this is nothing unlike what everyone else in this locker room is going through."

Garrett, like the rest of his teammates, got to sleep in his own bed this week after spending the previous week in Los Angeles. It didn't just give him a chance to return to familiar surroundings, but also to a familiar routine.

The Browns potentially will be facing a Jaguars team Sunday with a quarterback in Trevor Lawrence who's battling what's been called a high ankle sprain and a third-string left tackle. It's an opportunity for not just Garrett, but the entire Browns defense to fix some of their issues from the road trip.

Garrett said there's one person to fix his recent struggles getting to the quarterback. It's the same person who he said is responsible for him not getting a sack the last two weeks.

"There's nowhere to point any blame," Garrett said. "I got to find a matchup somewhere else or if I got to fight two or three guys. If I got to be in the middle of the formation, whatever I do, if I got to come off the ball and rush from kind of a backed-up position. I got to find a way to win. I can't put it on anyone else or any of the scheme or coaching. It's on me to make those plays happen.”

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: Browns' Myles Garrett looks for answers to two-game sack-less streak