As DE Myles Garrett lined up in one-on-one reps during the second week of training camp, he beat his opposition and shed the block on each ensuing snap.
Defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire noted how Garrett was going full speed with each rep and winning each time. Then as training camp continued and the Browns held joint practices with the Panthers and the Eagles, Cesaire watched Garrett win against other offensive linemen in those practices as well.
"And I'm thinking in my head, 'This guy's getting ready to have something special happen,'" Cesaire recalled. "I think it finally like dawned on me and I remember telling a group of coaches I said, "Fellas, are you realizing what we're witnessing right now?"
Garrett is on the brink of making history once again in his NFL career, as he is one sack shy from setting the NFL single-season sack record. He has 22 sacks through the first 17 weeks of the season and has one final game to break the threshold of 22.5 sacks that Michael Strahan set during the 2001 season.
His preparation dating back to the offseason has curated his ability to raise his game to another level in his ninth NFL season.
"This was probably the most focused, purpose-driven offseason I've ever seen him go through," Cesaire said. "And when you got a guy of his caliber, the way he trains his body, the way he approaches the game in terms of preparation, and just to see the level of focus that he had and the attention to detail that he had in all his rushes and how he played the run, […] you just saw him just keep elevating his game. […] You can just see how hungry he was the entire offseason, preseason camp, all those joint practices, it was personal for him. He was going out there to prove, I think to himself, like just how good he can be."
For a period of time, a whiteboard in the defensive line room sported the number "25" next to Garrett's name. Cesaire said he has joked with Garrett about breaking the sack record, both this year and last year, and wanted Garrett to write down a number. At first, Garrett wrote down 24. But then as they continued to think, they decided 25 was the ultimate number.
That number "25" has stemmed from the tape Garrett wears on his wrists each game. Since the first game of the 2025 season, during pregame, Garrett writes 25 on his wrist in Sharpie as a reminder of his goal.
"I set that goal three years ago for myself," Garrett said on Dec. 5. "I had a dream I had that written on my tape and I was going to get 25, and I feel like that was just meant to be."
Cesaire said there is also a standing count of Garrett's career sacks, which currently sits at 124.5. He started the season at 102.5, and through 17 weeks of the season, has added to that overall number.
Over the course of 16 games, Garrett also broke the Browns' single-season sack record that he set in 2021 and tied in 2022. He became the first player since 1982 to record 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons in Week 11 and set the record for the most sacks by a player under the age of 30.
Garrett has three games this season with at least three sacks, with his best game of the season against the Patriots in Week 8 with five sacks. He also recorded at least a half of a sack in nine straight games, the longest streak of his career.
"He always keeps the main thing the main thing. 'I just wanna win. I just wanna win.' That's what he keeps saying," Cesaire said. "And you can see the amount of effort that he's putting out there. I mean, if you watch him, that's just a normal game. There's not a lot of defensive ends that can say that 60 percent of the snaps they get hit by four hands, almost all the time. And in some cases, it was six hands and still winning. Not just winning like the ball's out. I mean, almost getting to the quarterback with two guys on him. That's the level of effort that he was giving. And it's seeped over to all the other guys. The other guys see Myles going fast, playing violent, playing with precision and just being decisive with all his rushes, and they start doing the same thing."
Cesaire saw another critical shift in Garrett heading into Week 8 against the Patriots.
Garrett had gone three consecutive weeks without a sack from Week 4-6, before breaking that drought with a sack in Week 7. He had five total sacks on the season through the first seven games. Teams were using double or triple teams, as well as chip blocks, to try and neutralize Garrett.
So, he made a change.
"He had told me, 'Hey, I don't feel like I'm myself,'" Cesaire recalled. "He was like, 'Don't take me out in practice.' I said, 'You wanna take every rep? He said, 'Yeah, I'm gonna take every rep.' And I said, 'OK, go ahead.' If one guy could do it, it was him. And you can see he's tired, but he's just going and he's emptying the tank every single snap. And I (thought), this guy is freaking special."
That next week on the Patriots' first offensive drive, Garrett sacked QB Drake Maye for his first of five sacks – his season-high and breaking his own Browns' record for the most sacks in a game.
His performance against the Patriots is the game Cesaire recalls as an embodiment of Garrett's talent.
"He played the run exactly how he needed to play. He set edges. He was closing on the back the backside of runs. He wasn't trying to do too much or try to jump out of the structure of the defense. He was doing everything within the defense," Cesaire said. "And then the rushes that he got, it was one-on-one rushes. […] He won on chip rushes, he won on gains, he won on just an individual rush. I was just like, man, that guy had five sacks doing everything we asked him to do. There's not much more that he could do right there. I was just really just in awe of him. I mean, every game I'm in awe of him of what he can do and how special he is, but this year, it's definitely been special."
The following day as the defensive line sat in their position room, Cesaire read off Garrett's stats and congratulated him on beating his previous record of sacks in a game. His teammates echoed Cesaire's praise for Garrett's accomplishment.
Later that night, Cesaire called Garrett.
"'I know I downplayed it today, but that was freaking awesome,'" Cesaire shared with Garrett. "But I said, 'That was incredible.'
"I couldn't even believe some of the things he was doing out there. He got to three and I was like holy crap," Cesaire continued. "And then he got to four and I was like, wow this is amazing right now. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing at the time."
On the back wall of the defensive line room at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus, there is the phrase, "Rush, crush, close" – a reminder to the Browns' defensive linemen the premium they put on rushing the quarterback.
As a unit, they discuss each day the importance of attacking the pocket, resetting the line of scrimmage and stopping the run. Those elements embody their approach to the attack-first style of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's defense, and the role in which the defensive line plays in their scheme.
And while Garrett plays a significant role in the overall success of the defense, both Garrett and Cesaire know the collective efforts of the defensive line contribute to their defensive dominance and his individual accomplishments on the field. From Maliek Collins, Mason Graham and Shelby Harris rushing the passer from the interior and winning away from Garrett to the presence of Alex Wright or Isaiah McGuire on the opposite edge, their ability to push the pocket and dominate from the point of attack create opportunities for Garrett.
"Everybody knows their role and everybody plays their role well and that's the thing and I try and do a good job of defining everybody's role," Cesaire said. "Everybody knows that Myles is Superman, OK. But Superman can't do it alone. He needs the Justice League. He needs all those guys. He needs all those superheroes going out there and doing their part and doing their job in order for him to get home. It's a very special thing when everybody is rooting for you to do something and then you're taking it upon yourself to go out there and match that energy. So, it's pretty special."
As Garrett has chased the record throughout the 2025 season, he has consistently highlighted the role his teammates have played in his pursuit of history.
"Sacks are a team stat at the end of the day," Garrett said on Dec. 12. "We talk about four equals one, it's four defensive linemen and we're going against five different offensive linemen. And we couldn't do it without working together and getting blitzes, getting guys coming off the edge, going through the middle, occupying more blockers for longer to get one-on-ones, or even getting the chipper off a little bit quicker. All of that is a little bit understated, but taken into account when we watch film, and we're appreciating the hard work and the execution that everyone has to have to even make a sack happen. And now I'm very grateful for the teammates that I have and what they do for me."
During the offseason, one of the areas of focus for the defensive line centered around rushing quickly to reach opposing quarterbacks before they released the ball. So, they started timing their one-on-ones.
Cesaire said they zeroed in on 2.6 seconds. Any hit under 2.6 seconds, they assume it could be a sack. Any number between 2.6 and 2.9 seconds, Cesaire chalked up to a quarterback hit. Above 2.9 seconds wasn't up to their standard.
"I think that kind of stuck in his head like I gotta win right now," Cesaire said. "I gotta go and win right now. If I'm getting chipped, I gotta go win right now. If it's a single block, I gotta go win right now. I think the fastest I had in time this year was in the Raiders game. He had a rush that ended up into a quarterback hit, he beat the guy in 1.9 seconds. It was the fastest I've ever seen him get off the ball, turn the corner and hit the quarterback all in one fell swoop, and it was 1.9 seconds."
While Garrett has perfected his craft as a rusher, he also homed in on his role in stopping the run this season – and particularly keeping the record for tackles for loss in a season in mind. Garrett currently has 32 tackles for loss this season, a career-high and just seven short from the single-season record of 39 tackles for loss set by J.J. Watt in 2012.
For Cesaire, a focused and purpose-driven rush plan every week allows Garrett to create a wholistic approach to his game, including his run defense.
"It's just being a complete player," Cesaire said. "And he's really focused on understanding that if we don't stop the run, we're not going to have an opportunity to improve in the pass rush. If we don't have an opportunity to pass rush, he's not going to have an opportunity to get sacks. So, for that little domino effect for him, I think, put it in perspective for him of I need to focus on making sure I do my part in the run game to help stop the run, whatever that may be. If it's setting the edge, closing on the backside, throwing in a changeup every now and making a play, getting the TFL. I think he just put a heavy focus on that to the point where we are getting in those rush opportunities."
He watched how Garrett's dedication to the run defense trickled over to the rest of the defensive line to build a collective focus throughout the season. In meetings, Cesaire said Garrett has asked questions and taken notes, comparing those notes with Collins or Graham and creating a collaborative approach to their efforts to stop the run.
As the Browns look to close out the 2025 season with one final division matchup against the Bengals, Garrett's success throughout the season has impacted the overall success of the defense. The Browns allow the second-fewest yards allowed per game at 278.6. They are also third in the league in total sacks at 51.
"I feel blessed that I get the opportunity to not only coach the men in this room, the type of character that they have, the work ethic they give, the energy they bring every day," Cesaire said. "Then to be able to coach a special player like Myles Garrett, I take that very seriously, and I feel really blessed that I get the opportunity to do that."
