Browns News: Myles Garrett Almost Didn't Play Against Jets

A death in his family nearly kept Myles Garrett from playing for the Cleveland Browns against the New York Jets.

Football players are humans too. 

They have emotions, they have families, and sometimes it's hard to separate what's going on in their personal lives and what's happening on the field or locker room. Embracing this has been something that the sports community has done a tremendous job of accepting over the last few years. 

This was the case for Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett during Thursday night's win against the New York Jets.

The Browns officially clinched a playoff berth with the victory. However, Garrett had trouble fully embracing the moment with his teammates. 

Myles revealed that he almost didn't play on Thursday night against the New York Jets because of an unexpected loss in his family. Garrett's uncle passed away earlier this week on Christmas night which was understandably still on his mind leading up to the game.

“I kind of left it up to my mother and if she needed me, I’d have been gone in a second," Garrett said of potentially missing the game on Thursday nigh. "And football is great. I love this team, I love the Browns, but I only got one mom. I’m hopefully going to have many more games, many more years, but there was only one CJ, and there’s only one mom. If she needed me, I’m always going to be there for her, just like she is for me.”

Obviously, Garrett ended up suiting up for the Browns and recorded three tackles including his first sack in five games. His efforts in the win and all season long are a major reason why the franchise is headed to the playoffs for the second time in four. 

Dec 28, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) celebrates after a sack against the New York Jets during the first half at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports / © Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

This is an absolutely heartbreaking story. The holidays are supposed to be a time of celebrating with loved ones and Garrett wasn't able to experience that. He also wasn't able to fully welcome the team's first postseason berth since 2020.

Garrett explained why he used the postgame press conference as a platform to share the news despite normally internalizing that type of stuff.

“I think getting off my chest is kind of like the best medicine," he explained. "I also didn’t want my teammates, if they saw me walking off the field, to feel like I wasn’t proud or happy of what we accomplished and achieved tonight. And it’s not indicative of how I truly feel, because I love this moment and how far we’ve come and how far we plan to go. But I just feel like this was more of a message to them than to you all."

He also didn't want to send the wrong message to his teammates. This Browns team seems like a tight-knit group and I'm sure they're right by his side to support him.