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If the Cleveland Browns are going to turn thing around and have success next season, star defensive end Myles Garrett will have to play a big part.
Garrett is suspended indefinitely for an incident during the season where he struck Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph over the head with a helmet, inciting chaos during the team’s Week 11 matchup.
New Browns general manager Andrew Berry spoke to the media on Wednesday and shared some insight on what the Browns are expecting regarding the suspension to Garrett.
“Certainly, our hope is for Myles to be reinstated,” Berry told reporters. “Obviously, I was part of drafting him here previously. Obviously, this fall he made a huge mistake, but we know who Myles is a person, and we look forward to welcoming him back.”
Myles Garrett Expected to Have Ban Dropped in Offseason
Commissioner Roger Goodell said he plans to meet with the Browns indefinitely suspended defensive end within the next 60 days to make a decision on reinstatement, according to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. Goodell made the statement before his annual Super Bowl press conference from Miami.
Garrett — who was on track for a second Pro Bowl season with 10 sacks — was hit with an indefinite suspension from the NFL after he ripped off the helmet of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and hit him over the head with it. Garrett sat out the final six games of the Browns season with the suspension, but reports indicate he will likely not miss anytime during the 2020 season.
In all, 33 players were fined for the fight, including a $250,000 fine for both franchises. Both teams were fined a total of $732,422 when it was all added up.
“It’s just not Myles Garrett here,” Goodell previously said of the suspension, via WKYC. “Obviously he was the starting [point] but we suspended three different players in that. It’s probably, I would say, the most significant discipline we’ve had from any single incident in our history, although we don’t keep that stat, but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.
“It was in my view and I think our football people, something that had to be dealt with very quickly and very firmly to make it clear to the players that is not acceptable. And I’d add one other thing: and to the clubs. Because we also fined the clubs, both clubs, for having been the clubs that participated in this. Not that they were necessarily responsible for it, but they’re accountable for it and that’s the message we want them to understand.”
Accountability Big for Browns New Regime
GettySteelers quarterback Mason Rudolph of the Pittsburgh Steelers fights with Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.
Under former head coach Freddie Kitchens, the Browns were one of the most undisciplined teams in the league, both on and off the field. Berry and new head coach Kevin Stefanski hope to instill a better sense of accountability in Cleveland to keep history from repeating itself.
“Listen, there is no perfect person and there is not perfect player, but I have mentioned this a couple times and you will probably get sick of me saying it, you will probably get sick of Kevin saying it but smart, tough, and accountable, and that accountability is on the field, in the building and off the field. That is really our profile.”
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Browns GM Andrew Berry Provides Insight on Myles Garrett