Alex Wright comes up big vs. Jaguars to help as Myles Garrett deals with foot injury

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Myles Garrett wasn't close to 100% Sunday in Jacksonville. It turns out the Browns defensive end didn't need to be against the Jaguars.

Not with Garrett's young pupil, third-year end Alex Wright, wanting to leave his own mark. That is exactly what Wright did when he sacked quarterback Trevor Lawrence for a safety with 1:44 remaining in what ended up being an 18-13 Browns win .

"That was huge for us," Garrett said afterward. "We needed that kind of cushion and we got the ability to pin on respect that next possession. But us being able to work together, rush together like that, him working off of me, me going high and then him coming underneath to make that play, that's exactly how we draw it up. And he's going to make many more of those plays."

The sack for Wright was his first of the season, but it was a carryover from what he did near the end of last season. He surged to a five-sack season in his second season, and needed just two games to get himself 20% of the way there this season.

Wright, a former third-round pick out of UAB, has spent much of his time since coming to Cleveland like a child at the feet of Garrett, trying to absorb what he could from one of the best edge rushers in the NFL. It was a foot of Garrett, though, that made every possible snap of productivity out of Wright so important against the Jaguars.

"Myles is one of us," Wright said. "He jumps out, of course. We look at ourselves as the engine. He's the leader but we're always going to be up, always be there for him. He's dealing with something but the energy in the room doesn't stop. We're still the engine of the defense."

Garrett appeared on the Browns injury report after missing practice Thursday with a left foot injury, which was initially viewed by some as not a major concern. On Friday, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year acknowledged it was something he was going to be dealing with, while not wanting to get into the specifics of the injury.

On Sunday, it was clear the foot was bothering Garrett, who appeared to be rotated in and out more frequently than usual. When he would come out of the game, there were several times he was seen kneeling down, working on the foot.

"Didn't feel great," Garrett said. "Been battling it and there was some ups and downs with it. Sometimes it felt a little bit better, sometimes it felt a bit worse, but it's part of the game."

It's going to be a part of the game for a while, which Garrett acknowledged both Friday and again after Sunday's win. When asked how he'll handle it, Garrett smiled and said, "I'll downplay it and play through it."

If downplaying it and playing through it resembles what Garrett provided the Browns against the Jaguars, then it would be hard to downplay his case to repeat as the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year. He added another strip sack to his total, giving him two in two games, while getting another quarterback hit, another tackle for loss and three more total tackles.

If Wright, who also had three tackles, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit along with the sack for a safety, provides the Browns with what he did on Sunday on a regular basis, there's a chance the Browns defense could repeat again as the NFL's statistical best. Or, it could at least have one of the league's most feared pass rushes, with Garrett and Wright — teacher and student — right there leading the way.

For now, Wright's just going to savor the feeling of sacking Lawrence for a safety — even if he didn't know it was one right away.

"I was just happy and didn’t realize it was a safety and I helped the team go up two points," Wright said. "It was like a crazy, crazy feeling like I never had before. I put that sack on top of any other sack I ever had just because of the situation and the feeling and especially being on the road, just to get our first win of the season."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Alex Wright comes up big vs. Jaguars to help as Myles Garrett deals with foot injury