BEREA − Myles Garrett didn’t see his former teammate, Baker Mayfield, lead the Los Angeles Rams on a 98-yard game-winning drive Thursday night in a 17-16 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The Browns defensive end, though, wasn’t the least bit surprised by the fact it happened.
“I’m not going to lie, I didn’t see half of it,” Garrett said. “I went to sleep at the end of the third. I was like, (16-3), new team, maybe he’ll get them next week. I went to sleep, I woke up. Right before I went to sleep, I was with my (physical therapist) John, I said, ‘Maybe you should stay up. There is a possibility he could bring them back. You let me know in the morning.’ So I wake up and there’s a text waiting on me like, ‘You won’t believe it.’ I said, yeah I will.”
Garrett and Mayfield spent four seasons as teammates with the Browns, making the playoffs together in 2020. Mayfield was dealt to the Carolina Panthers in July in exchange for a fifth-round pick, and took the loss when the Browns beat the Panthers in the season opener.
Mayfield was released by the Panthers on Monday, and was picked up off waivers by the Rams on Tuesday. While he didn’t start the game Thursday, he came in off the bench to complete 22-of-35 passes − including 15 of his 20 fourth-quarter passes − for 230 yards and the game-winning 23-yard touchdown to Van Jefferson with 15 seconds remaining.
“I mean, it was (impressive),” Garrett said. “And going back to watch it, he was putting some dimes out there for guys to go get early on in the game and it was just that time until it clicked. So I have nothing against the guy now. I’m hoping for his success wherever he’s at, just not when he’s facing us.
Amari Cooper questionable against Bengals with hip injury
Amari Cooper missed practice on Friday with a hip injury. The Browns receiver is listed as questionable to play Sunday against Cincinnati due to the injury.
“Just it happened in practice and just did not feel like he was able to go today,” coach Kevin Stefanski said after Friday’s practice. “Just have to really take this one over the next couple of days and see where it lands.”
Cooper has 61 catches for 832 yards and seven touchdowns this season, all team highs for the Browns. The last time the Browns faced the Bengals, in Week 8 in Cleveland, he posted a season-high 131 yards and a touchdown on five catches.
That was also the game in which Cooper had an ill-timed receiver pass that was intercepted.
Cooper’s absence that last practice-and-a-half has taken away time for him to continue to get on the same page with quarterback Deshaun Watson. In Watson’s return to the field in last Sunday’s 27-14 win over the Houston Texans, he was targeted nine times, catching four passes for 40 yards.
On Thursday, Cooper acknowledged connecting with Watson after 11 games of Jacoby Brissett was something that was a critical objective for him.
“Obviously that’s something that you really want to get down pat, that relationship between the quarterback and receiver because we all run at a different tempo and different stride lengths and stuff like that,” Cooper said. “So just the more we could do to get him acclimated to each of our stride lengths and stuff like that. In terms of breaking out of the routes and stuff like that, I think that’s No. 1.”
David Bell out of practice with toe injury, two other back on field
David Bell was not on the field at all Friday. While he left the win over the Texans with a thumb injury that had limited him both Wednesday and Thursday, it was a toe injury which sidelined him for Friday’s practice.
Two players were back Friday after having missed Thursday’s practice. Defensive end Chase Winovich had been out with a knee issue, while tight end Pharaoh Brown was one of the latest players to be going through an illness.
Chris Kiffin still confident in Perrion Winfrey’s talent
It’s been an up-and-down season for Browns rookie defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey. At this moment, though, the needle is pointing upwards for the fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma.
“I think he’s really coming on right now,” defensive line coach Chris Kiffin said. “He’s shown that over the weeks at practice and that’s why he’s gotten the reps the last week. As we all know, he has to put in a full week’s work to be rewarded on Sunday and he’s done that. He’s getting better. It’s hard when you’re however old he is coming into the league and not playing with technique and then trying to get plugged into a system where you have to play with technique and you have to train your hands, your eyes, your feet, your hips, everything, to be consistent. And he has the talent, there’s no question. And so I think he’s really taking the next step in his technique and, I mean, the guy just plays hard and that’s what I saw last week with him and (rookie defensive end) Alex Wright, and you got some young guys that just fly around the field. That’s contagious.”
Winfrey played 37 snaps on defense in last Sunday’s win at Houston. It was the second consecutive game in which he was active after being inactive for the three-game stretch starting with the Week 8 game against the Bengals.
The rookie was tied for second on the team in combined tackles against the Texans with six. He’s recorded 11 total tackles on the season in eight games.
“He got in a car accident or whatever it was,” Kiffin said. “So that came up and then, before that, yes, it was making it a full week of being locked in and not missing anything. I think he was inactive a couple weeks because of discipline. So when he’s here and he puts a full week together and he is available on Sunday, then he’s showing what he’s capable of doing.”
Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.
On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Myles Garrett not surprised to see Baker Mayfield’s late-game heroics