Vikings will be facing a Browns’ defense without Myles Garrett this week
By Adam Patrick
The Cleveland Browns announced that the rookie pass-rusher will not be traveling to London to face the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
When the Minnesota Vikings take on the Cleveland Browns this week in London, England, they will already have the luxury of not going against Browns All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas. And now, the Vikings’ offensive line will not have to worry about trying to stop Cleveland rookie defensive end Myles Garrett either on Sunday.
The Browns announced on Thursday that the number one pick in the 2017 NFL Draft will not be traveling to London with the team for this week’s game due to a concussion. Garrett was placed in concussion protocol on Tuesday after showing up to the team’s facilities with concussion-like symptoms.
Minnesota Vikings
Despite only playing in three games, the young pass-rusher has still managed to rack up four sacks this season. No other player on Cleveland’s defense has more than two sacks this year.
For Minnesota, not having to try and figure out a way to block Garrett on Sunday is definitely a relief. This should make the day of Vikings left tackle Riley Rieff (if he plays) much easier this week since he would have likely had the assignment to block the Browns’ young pass-rusher for most of the game.
Minnesota is already favored to defeat Cleveland by a wide margin on Sunday (by almost 10 points), so Garrett’s absence will just make it even tougher for the Browns to get a win this week.
It is a bit disappointing that the rookie will not be playing on Sunday. Him going against a Vikings offensive line that has only given up two sacks in the last four games with Case Keenum starting at quarterback would have definitely been intriguing to watch.
Next: Vikings facing a rookie QB in London
But good luck finding any of Minnesota’s blockers complaining about no longer having the opportunity to block a very dangerous pass-rusher in Garrett this week.