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FOXBOROUGH — Myles Garrett sat at the end of the Browns bench ticked off that he was yanked from the game on the Patriots final drive with them leading by the final margin of 32-13. Garrett had already set the Browns single-game record with 5.0 sacks, including one sack-fumble, and the coaches sat him down, much to his dismay. “I’m frustrated,” he said after the loss, which dropped the Browns to 2-6 heading into the bye. “I want to win. I don’t care how much time is on the clock. They’ve got their starters in. There’s a chance we can win. I want to be a part of that. I don’t care how dire the situation looks, I’m wanting to try to make something happen. So I hate coming out of those situations. I hate that kind of inevitability and not being able to do anything about it. I want to win and I’ll do anything.” More Cleveland Browns coverage The stat that shows the dire state of the Browns’ passing game in loss to Patriots Talk Browns-Patriots live at 8:15 p.m. on Sunday Dillon Gabriel on loss to the Patriots, the Browns offense, Drake Maye, and more: Transcript Once again, Garrett tried to strap the Browns on his back and hoist it to victory, but the offense stumbled and sputtered. The Browns trailed 30-7 until Dillon Gabriel threw his second touchdown pass of the game, an 11-yarder to David Njoku, with 9:24 remaining to make the game look closer than it actually was. It was an embarrassing performance by the offense, which got two picks from Gabriel that led to TDs, went 2 for 11 on third down, and got only 19 yards rushing on nine carries from Quinshon Judkins before he left late in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. But how many times can you ask Garrett about being frustrated by the lack of offense without him blowing a gasket? “It doesn’t get any easier each week you ask me,” he said. Garrett played a career game with the five sacks, almost singlehandedly keeping the Patriots out of the end zone in the first half to keep the Browns within two points at 9-7. In fact, he climbed back into the conversation for NFL Defensive Player of the Year and bolted up the sack leader board by doubling his season total to 10. If he keeps up this way, he’ll at least achieve the individual goal of his first NFL sack title. But he’d chuck it all in Lake Erie for a chance to get back to playoffs. Those record-setting five sacks on Drake Maye from Sunday? “I would throw the whole performance away for a win,” Garrett said. In fact, Garrett, the Browns’ $40 million-a-year man, is so intent on helping get the team turned around, he’s giving up his bye week this week to find the fix. “I’m going to watch the film and I’m going to talk to different coaches and players and see what ideas they have on finding a way to win, offense, defense, special teams,” he said. “I want to be part of success and it doesn’t just stop and start at defense. So however I can be of use, however I can be helpful, I want to do that and there ain’t going to be any days off for me. I’m going to continue working on my bye week.” So he won’t travel to a faraway land or otherwise shut it down and forget about this 2-6 team for the week? When the Browns come back, they’ll travel to the 1-7 Jets, who knocked off the Joe Flacco and the Bengals on Sunday for their first victory of the season. “I’ll go home for a couple days, see my family, work out, do some recovery,” Garrett said. “I’ll come back early and meet with the coaches. If not, if I haven’t already talked to them over FaceTime or a call. But continue that conversation and that communication so we can keep on working on things.” Like he’s done the whole season, Garrett plans to set the tone, be the leader the Browns challenged him to be in the offseason, and find a way to get this team right. It won’t be easy. The offense, which failed to score more than 17 points for the 12th time in the past 13 games, is so young and raw and ineffective, that it’s hard to stay hopeful. “Don’t quit,” Garrett said. “Keep your head up. Hold everyone’s feet to the fire, even my own. Try to find something, some kind of remedy for this and how we can improve. I’m not going to put the red dot on anybody without putting it on myself and how I can be better and what more I can do for my team. And just going to continue to get different people’s opinions and ideas and how we can turn the tide right now.” Browns right tackle Jack Conklin, who lamented the weak running game — 15 carries for 37 yards save for a 31-yard end around by Malachi Corley — feels for Garrett, who tried like heck to get traded in the offseason to a contender, before signing his blockbuster extension. “I’m happy I don’t have to block him, that’s for sure,” Conklin said. “But really just feel bad again. He hit five sacks in the game, whatever it was, and we can’t do anything offensively. It’s a bummer.” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, a sackmaster himself when he played for New England, knows he’s witnessing one of the greatest pass rushers in the history of the game, one who surpassed Hall of Famer Reggie White with the most sacks by a player (108.5) under 30. White had 108. “Just size, speed, athleticism, bend,” Vravel, who got to know Garrett last season when he helped coach the Browns. “Having watched him last year, it’s impressive, and it’s hard. We’re trying to chip him, and he Gumbys around one guy and then speed bursts the other guy. He’s just an elite athlete with a tremendous skill set. I’m glad that we don’t play him twice every year unless we’re both in the playoffs. He’s just a dynamic player, and they do a nice job with him. He certainly impacts a lot of football games.” Garrett headed into the season aiming for the Super Bowl, NFL Defensive Player of the Year and the sack title. As of now, it looks like only the latter two are within reach, but Garrett isn’t conceding anything. He’ll search for answers during the bye, and make suggestions. The trade deadline is Nov. 4, and the Browns still have a chance to add talent. For now, Kevin Stefanski said he’s sticking with Gabriel coming out of bye, recognizing that with a young quarterback there will be ups and downs. Garrett seems cool with that. “I see young quarterback that’s fighting,” he said. “I see a young team that’s fighting all across the board. So we’ve all got to help each other and there’s no one on the outside who’s going to help us. There’s no one who’s going to come in with a magic cure-all. So we have to rally together and find the best way to win as a unit, as a team. Because we’re the only people who can get out of this. We dug ourselves in this hole. So now, we’ve got to keep on working to get out of it.” If it takes six sacks and two strips next time to get the job done, so be it.
