During Wednesday’s Cleveland Browns practice, something horrifying happened. Indeed, it was a moment that no one ever saw coming. Right before his first real NFL appearance, first overall pick Myles Garrett went down in pain. Now, no one does doom and gloom better than Browns fans, that’s for sure. Of course, there were cries of disbelief as fans listened to Hue Jackson‘s press conference. “Only in Cleveland,” one might say. However, before we go dooming the Browns to another year of utter failure, let’s truly analyze Garrett’s injury situation.
Analyzing the Myles Garrett Injury
What is a High Ankle Sprain?
Simply put, a high ankle sprain is a really hard rolling of the ankle. It’s almost as if the ligament gives out for a short time, whether by its own accord, or due to outside factors. This can lead to swelling, intense pain, and impaired movement. Most of us have likely sprained an ankle during our lifetime; swelling is the easiest way to tell.
The timetable for an injury like this can be usually four to six weeks. However, with the Myles Garrett injury history, Cleveland may want to hold him back a tiny bit longer. For someone as young as he is, the Browns will want to make sure he’s fully healed above everything else.
How the Browns Can Tackle This
Losing one of your best defensive linemen is never easy in the game of football. However, the Browns are surprisingly deep at the position. Really, the defensive line is one of Cleveland’s greatest strengths on the field. So, although he might be hard to replace, the Browns can find a fill-in for Garrett while he’s out. One likely candidate is Carl Nassib.
In the early goings of last season, Nassib was one of the Browns standout rookies. In 2016, he recorded 2.5 sacks, along with 20 combined tackles. At 6’6″ and 245 pounds, Nassib is nowhere near as physically dominant as Garrett. But then again, who is, really? Nassib is a good backup for the time being, and hopefully the Browns can agree on that.
Addressing the Situation
This past week, Cleveland-based radio show Baskin and Phelps made a really great point on Garrett. Specifically, host Jeff Phelps mentioned that there seem to be two types of defensive linemen. The first type houses players like Warren Sapp, or, on the Browns, Emmanuel Ogbah and Jamie Meder. These guys are a lot like NASCAR vehicles. They’re pretty durable, willing to get in there, and ready to bump around with other cars.
Then, you have players like Myles Garrett. Now, these defensive linemen are more like Formula 1 cars. Of course, these are far superior to any NASCAR vehicle ever made. However, if there’s anything that’s even slightly not working right, they won’t be able to run at all. In simple terms, these vehicles are much more finicky than NASCAR, even though they are far superior. Myles Garrett fits into this group, as does Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.
Conclusion
Drawing a conclusion with this one is actually pretty easy. Although Garrett has a history of injury, he should be just fine. Really, athletic freaks such as himself never stay injured for too long. Perhaps the Browns just have to take some precautions to keep this F1 car up and running.
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