Over the last two days, the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles battled in joint practices before their Week 2 preseason matchup on Saturday. Overall, the reports were extremely positive on the defense, and not so positive on the offense until the end of day two per Tony Grossi.
But the one thing that stood out to many was how good Myles Garrett looked. Not only has he been a disruption all camp long, but he also blew up practice with multiple sacks on both days and keeping Jalen Hurts on his toes in every single team drill.
It’s worth noting that Lane Johnson was held out of these practices, but it was noted by Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports and Dave Zangara of NBC Philadelphia that Garrett stole the show and was a massive disruption during the entire practice sessions with both power and finesse moves.
Garrett was the AP 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year when the Browns had a playoff run with Joe Flacco at the helm, and could be poised for another run in 2025. Remember, Garrett had similar stats in 2024 compared to 2023 (even with a shoulder injury in the back-half of the year), but the team struggled on offense, which likely cost him being a real contender for the award again.
No one sees this Browns team as being a real contender in 2025, but if they can get better offensive line play and a stable quarterback, this defense could carry them to eight or nine wins, and if Garrett can hit 15 or 16 sacks, that could easily lock in another Defensive MVP award.