Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Myles Garrett was not happy with the officiating following this past Sunday’s win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, calling it a “travesty” and saying that the Jacksonville Jaguars were getting away with holding him.
This week, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski defended his star pass-rusher, saying that his complaints about the referees held weight.
“He has respect for this game,” Stefanski said, via Chris Easterling of The Akron Beacon Journal. “He understands that, he’s frustrated. It’s something I talk to the officials about every week leading up to the game is keeping an eye on the guys that are blocking him. So it really comes with being a great player. We want the other teams to play within the rules, obviously, but it hasn’t slowed him down. I mean, he continues to play at a very high level.”
Garrett managed just one tackle and was held without a sack against the Jaguars, but he obviously feels that he would have done more damage if he had been able to get loose from being held.
The 27-year-old is in a bit of a “slump,” as he has gone without a sack for three straight games. On the season overall, Garrett has logged 33 tackles, 13 sacks, four forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and three passes defended in 13 games.
Garrett, who played his collegiate football at Texas A&M, was selected by Cleveland with the first overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft.
After a solid rookie campaign in which he registered 31 tackles and seven sacks, Garrett broke out during his sophomore season, racking up 44 tackles and 13.5 sacks.
Since then, the Arlington, Tx. native has established himself as one of the best defensive players in football, making four trips to the Pro Bowl and earning a pair of First-Team All-Pro selections.
Garrett posted 16 sacks in back-to-back campaigns going into this season.
The Browns are 8-5 on the year and will take on the Chicago Bears this weekend. We’ll see if the refs officiate Myles Garrett any differently this time around.
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