After making headlines with his absence at the Cleveland Browns’ OTAs, defensive end Myles Garrett confirmed his current plans on social media. He posted photos on his Instagram account recently, confirming his presence in Japan. 

Garrett’s absence from the training camp is not the first time he has done this. Despite missing practice sessions, he covers up for it on the field. Last year, he went on to win the Defensive Player of the Year award and broke the NFL sacks' record.

However, the storyline that’s garnering attention is that the DE has not yet met the new head coach, Todd Monken. When Monken was asked if he had met Garrett since taking over the head coach role in the Browns, he replied a straightforward “NO”.

According to Heavy's J.R. DeGroote, Garrett should have attended the OTAs to get accustomed to the new coach's methodology.

Since the OTAs are voluntary, the Browns aren’t concerned with Garrett, considering his performance during the regular season. Monken also cleared his stance on Garrett’s absence. 

“This is voluntary. We’re making a big deal out of this,” Monken said. “We have other guys besides Myles that aren’t here…. We expect them to be ready. And we’ll be fired up when they’re here.”

DeGroote added that Garrett’s responsibility towards the Browns has increased as the Browns’ owner, Jimmy Haslam, has asked him to be more of a leader for the team.

“What we’ve challenged Myles on is, by his practice habits, by his actions, etc.,....to become a real leader of the team,” Haslam stated. “And he has said he’d do that and we’re hopeful he will be.”

All eyes now await Garrett’s glimpse at the Browns’ mandatory minicamp in June. Missing mandatory minicamps comes with financial penalties and could hamper the image Garrett has built all these years.

Despite the issues, an NFL analyst believes that there is a surprising reason behind Garrett’s absence at the Browns’ camp.

NFL Analyst Makes a Surprising Claim About Myles Garrett

Myles Garrett missed the voluntary minicamp in April and then the OTAs last week. Given that the Browns have a new defensive coordinator in Mike Rutenberg, it was expected that Garrett would show up.

NFL analyst Anthony Lima had a surprising take on the Garrett situation. He claimed that the All-Pro defensive end likes all the attention that his absence brings on the 92.3 The Fan show. 

“These players have platforms that they didn't have 20 years ago, but Myles could diffuse all of this so easily," Lima said. "He could do all of this to alleviate it, which goes to show he kind of likes the conversation. Myles likes being talked about.”

Lima concluded by saying that Garrett could make all these conversations disappear immediately with a Zoom call with the head coach. The growing concern now is that the DE isn’t as committed to the franchise as he needs to be. 

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Written by

Naomi Grace

Edited by

Rishab Nandi