CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett revealed he's dealing with injuries in both feet, but he intends to keep playing while acknowledging he may need a surgical procedure following the season.
The NFL's reigning Defensive Player of the Year returned to practice Friday after sitting out two days for rest and treatment. He expects to play Sunday when the Browns (1-1) host the New York Giants (0-2).
“Don’t feel 100 percent but feel good enough to go out there and make a difference,” he said. “So we’ll go out there and do that.”
Garrett declined to specify what's wrong with his feet. It was widely assumed he was only dealing with an injury in one foot before the 28-year-old said he was dealing with a similar ailment in both feet.
The five-time Pro Bowler has recorded a strip sack in Cleveland's first two games. He was on the field for 41 plays in the Browns' 18-13 win at Jacksonville last week.
Garrett said he has discussed the possibility of surgery at some point.
"We talked about it, but that’s something that we’ll probably talk about further down the line,” he said. “Hopefully the pain and everything else is something that we deal with and it goes away. But the issue itself is something that I’ll probably have to deal with for however long I end up playing. So it’s just about managing that and playing through it.”
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Garrett “looked like himself” in practice.
Garrett had surgeries to correct flat feet when he was a kid, and said the current injuries could be related to his previous conditions.
"Not completely, but it probably has something to do with it from those events,” he said.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, Garrett has record 90 1/2 sacks in 102 career games. He's been durable in recent years, missing just one game in the past four seasons after suffering multiple injuries in a single-car crash in 2022.
Garrett is the only player to record at least 14 sacks in each of the past three seasons.
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