Steelers Now
Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett downplayed the significance of possibly sacking Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph for the NFL single-season sack record on Sunday.
The Steelers could clinch the AFC North with a Baltimore Ravens’ loss to the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night. If that is the case, quarterback Aaron Rodgers could sit out, which means Mason Rudolph will get the nod.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of history between the two of us,” Garrett told the Cleveland media when asked if he gets the single-season sack record on Rudolph. “But whether I get it against him, I get it against Aaron, it makes no difference to me as long as I get it.”
No history with Rudolph? Garrett acted like he never ripped Rudolph’s helmet off and hit him over the head with it during a brawl on Thursday Night Football in Cleveland in November of 2019. Garrett was fined and suspended for the rest of the year for the incident.
Garrett also accused Rudolph of calling him a racial slur, a claim Rudolph denied as a “bold-faced lie.” The NFL found no evidence to Garrett’s claim. Both players have since moved on, shaking hands after a 2021 game in Cleveland.
Garrett currently stands at 22.0 sacks. He needs one sack in the next two weeks to break Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt’s 22.5 single-season sack record. Watt tied Strahan for the record in 2021.
“It’d be special,” Garrett said of surpassing Watt. “He’s legendary himself and it’s a legendary record I’m out here chasing. That’d be a great one to put a picture on the wall with.”
During his Tuesday press conference, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin highlighted the Steelers recent struggles in Cleveland, and their recent struggles vs. Myles Garrett. The Steelers are 1-5-1 in their last seven games in Cleveland.
Tomlin thinks the Browns defense is ‘the best unit in the entire AFC North.’ It all starts with Garrett. They also have a rising rookie star in linebacker Carson Schwesinger.
“They got what appears to be a slam dunk Defensive Player of the Year (Myles Garrett) and they got what appears to be a slam dunk Defensive Rookie of the Year (Carson Schwesinger) in their front seven,” Tomlin said. “Myles Garrett has certainly been an issue for us in that venue. I think he’s had five sacks in our last two trips, neither that we won.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Myles Garrett Makes Strange Remark About History with Mason Rudolph
