CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett has his eyes set on being named the Defensive Player of the Year, and while he continues to strive for that goal, he’s acquired an accolade that sure doesn’t hurt his chances of winning the end-of-the-year award, earning the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for October.
The National Football League announced on Thursday that Garrett had earned the award.
With six sacks, two forced fumbles, 14 tackles and two strip sacks in October, Garrett has been dominant.
Garrett led the NFL in sacks, sack yardage (53) in October and tied for the lead in strip-sacks.
The disruption Garrett causes has been felt in every game this month as he recorded a sack in every game and has extended his streak to six straight games with at least one sack.
In total, Garrett has recorded nine sacks, four strip-sacks and four forced fumbles this season.
With Thursday’s announcement, Garrett became the first Browns defensive player to earn the monthly award since D’Qwell Jackson was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month in September 2011.
Garrett’s teammate, punter Jamie Gillan, was the last Browns player to win a monthly award when he was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month in September of last year. Quarterback Baker Mayfield recently earned the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award for his stunning performance against the Bengals last week and Garrett won the defensive weekly award in Week 4 this season.
While the monthly award is surely an honor, Garrett will likely not be settling for it and will continue his push for the bigger award of Defensive Player of the Year, and if he keeps his level of play up, the award doesn’t seem so far out of reach.
