Myles Garrett ready for a 'discussion' with Ja'Marr Chase when Browns face Bengals

BEREA — It wouldn't be an installment of the Battle of Ohio if there wasn't someone saying something about the other side.

This time, it was Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase.

“It feels like a regular game to me,” Chase told Cincinnati reporters this week. “It don’t feel no different. It’s just the hooping and hollering about the Cleveland Browns. I was about to call them the elves. But, yeah.”

It's not quite "You don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati," as the late Sam Wyche famously told Bengals fans in 1989. However, for two teams that have several players willing to expressed their views, it was the latest salvo between them.

Chase will get to see an elf — specifically the one at midfield at Cleveland Browns Stadium — on Sunday when the Bengals and Browns meet in the season opener. He may very well find himself seeing someone else there as well.

"See, now that was disrespectful," All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett said Friday. "He didn't have to go there. The elves was probably was … he knew better. We might have to have a discussion before or after the game, maybe during if I see him. But, yeah, the elves is a little bit too far."

Chase was a major factor in the Bengals' 23-10 win over the Browns last December. The third-year pro had 10 catches for 119 yards and an impressive 15-yard touchdown catch in which he pulled in a Joe Burrow throw between Browns defenders Denzel Ward and John Johnson III.

That win was the first time Burrow had ever beaten the Browns, and the first time the Bengals beat their in-state rivals since the 2019 season finale. The five-game series win streak was the Browns' longest since they returned to the league in 1999.

A big reason for that win streak was Garrett. The pass rusher has feasted when he has played the Bengals, with 11 career sacks against Cincinnati.

"Sometimes you just catch fire at the right times," Garrett said. "I guess it's just against them, but I've also been very blessed to have a good amount of help across the board. That is, I have these fantastic stats, but it is not just me. We've had success team-wise as far as the defense and on the record, but we got to continue doing those things to slow those guys down."

If Chase is seeing elves when he sees the Browns, his teammate Burrow is just seeing Garrett. While the newly minted highest-paid player in the NFL — Burrow signed a five-year, $275 million extension Thursday — has averaged 295 passing yards and owns a 91.5 passer rating in five starts against Cleveland, he's also been sacked 18 times in those games.

Of those 18, seven have belonged to Garrett. Even when he's not sacking the Bengals quarterback, he's making sure his presence is felt with 11 quarterback hits.

It's understandable why Burrow's first answer almost every time he's asked about the Browns is Garrett. If any player in the NFL could possibly live in the former 2020 No. 1 overall pick's head, it would be the one wearing No. 95 for Cleveland.

"I don't know what's in his head," Garrett said. "Honestly, I have a lot of respect for him, regardless of what he thinks of me or this team. He's a helluva of a player and that contract goes to show, but, I mean, he lives in the heads of a lot of players and a lot of teams across the league as far as what he can do and what he can put on display on that field. So we have a lot of respect for him, and it feels good that he has respect for us."

As for Burrow's favorite target? Chase missed Cincinnati's last visit to Cleveland in Week 8 of last season because of a hip injury, but is healthy and, as his words show, ready to go for the season.

So, too, is Garrett, who had two sacks in that most recent meeting with the Bengals. One of those, though, wasn't of Burrow.

"I just want to play ball," Garrett said. "So, I mean, I don't really take offense to it, but I will say I do have a sack on Ja’Marr Chase. I wouldn't mind adding to it."

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 eyes 'discussion' with Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase in opener