The Cleveland Browns fell to 0-2 on the season on Sunday following the Baltimore Ravens' 41-17 beatdown of their AFC North rival. To put it plainly, the outlook is pretty bleak for the team, and we haven't even reached the mid-point of September yet.
This made the comments from All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett following that loss a cause for concern. As Browns fans remember well, Garrett wanted out of Cleveland at the conclusion of the 2024 season. Garrett's disdain with the way things were going with the Browns pushed him to the point of publicly demanding a trade.
As it typically does, offering Garrett a massive $160 million contract, which included a no-trade clause, changed the star defender's tune for the time being. Now, those same frustrations seem to be setting back in, and that could be a horrible sign for Cleveland.
Myles Garrett Sounds Off After Browns' "Embarrassing" Loss to Ravens
"S---- embarrassing," Garrett said when discussing his team's 41-17 loss, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com. "We got to be better on defense. We got to be better as a team. They slowly chipped away and we did a solid job, holding them to 3 when we could, and then eventually the dam broke and they just did whatever they want, and we have to continue to play a 60-minute game."
While Garrett can look himself in the mirror and confidently feel like he did his part on Sunday after finishing the game with five tackles, 1.5 sacks, two tackles for a loss, and two QB hits, his individual effort was only good enough to help his team to a 24-point loss. That alone is enough to frustrate any player, let alone one as talented as Garrett.
No matter how much money you are being paid, and $160 million is certainly a nice chunk of change, any athlete with respect for themselves wants to compete in meaningful games come November and December. Since joining the Browns in 2017, Garrett has appeared in three playoff games, with two of those being losses. Right now, with the QB situation as awful as it looks through two games, the Browns are still a ways off from contending for postseason opportunities.
Whether that turns into further discontent between the defensive end and the front office remains to be seen. One thing is for certain, though, the former Defensive Player of the Year already seems frustrated with the way things are going.