CLEVELAND -- Myles Garrett's debut may not have been flashy, but it was plenty effective.
Grade it a solid A-minus.
"I played my game well," Garrett said after the Cleveland Browns won their preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints 20-14. "I got to where I wanted to go and played hard. I got where I was supposed to."
Garrett made two good tackles against the run, and then showed his speed late in the first quarter of Thursday night's game. In what proved to be his last play of the game, Garrett beat Saints offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on third down and hit quarterback Garrett Grayson as he threw.
The pressure forced an incompletion and a punt.
Barnes has been in the league for 11 seasons and has also played in Jacksonville and Oakland; he is listed as third team on New Orleans' depth chart. On that particular play, Garrett started wide to get Barnes backpedaling and then cut underneath him to hit Grayson.
Earlier, Garrett made a nice outside-in move against a run play to force a loss of 2 yards. Garrett stepped out and then slid inside offensive tackle Bryce Harris to make the tackle. Garrett's other tackle stuffed a run play for no gain.
Unofficially, Garrett played 15 snaps, recording two tackles (one for loss) and one pressure.
Sacks get the notice, but Garrett's debut was positive. The first overall pick in the draft continues to do a lot right. So far, Garrett has given onlookers little reason to doubt his ability to become a very good NFL player.
