BEREA, Ohio — Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has lofty expectations for Myles Garrett after he rattled the cage with his trade demand, and secured a blockbuster $40 million-a-year extension.
“I really think Myles is going to have the best season of his career and has to, right?” Schwartz said Wednesday on coordinator day at organized team activities. “You know, I mean, and I’ve told him before…what’s that Spider Man quote? ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’ right? That’s with the big contract, with the notoriety that came along with that, you know, with the process that took to get him to that point. There’s always pressure in this league, but probably a little bit more so. That brings out the best in players, and I know that’ll be the case with Myles.”
If Garrett lives up to Schwartz’ high bar, he’ll have to exceed his NFL Defensive Player of the Year season of 2023, when he was at or near the top of the league in both pass-rush win rate and taking on double-teams. He only had 14.0 sacks that season, but he dominated despite two and three players blocking and chipping him on every play.
Garrett, incidentally, wasn’t at OTAs again on Wednesday. Last week, he posted photos of himself in Japan, with the caption that he was looking to buy a place there. But Schwartz has no problem with Garrett’s absence.
“This is a voluntary portion,” he said. “We know Myles works hard no matter where he is, no matter what time of season is. He’s a veteran player that’s proven himself in this league. We have a lot of guys out here who are trying to reach that level and they’re working hard every day to do that. Every player is a little bit different, but this is a voluntary part of the schedule, and we’re happy with the guys that are here, and they’re all working really hard.”
**Ins and outs**
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Cornerback Greg Newsome II participated in OTAs on Wednesday after missing the open day last week …. Receiver Diontae Johnson and tight end David Njoku were missing for the second straight open practice …. Safety Ronnie Hickman rode the bike last week but was back on Wednesday … Receivers Cedric Tillman and Michael Woods II both the rode the bikes yesterday and didn’t practice.
**Browns sign a receiver**
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The Browns on Wednesday signed receiver Jaelen Gill and waived kicker Andre Szmyt.
Gill (6-0, 185) is officially in his first NFL season out of Fresno State. Originally signed by the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2024, Gill spent five weeks on the Browns’ practice squad last season.
**Schwartz on Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah**
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Schwartz had the highest praise for Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who’s out for at least this season with a neck injury.
“JOK was on his way to All-Pro season last year,” Schwartz said. “He had really reached that level. We had talked this time last year about the biggest jump between being a starter and then being a Pro Bowl player. There’s even a bigger jump to being an All-Pro player. It was really disappointing to lose him because he had really, like you said, he had really hit his stride as a player. He had some sort of growing pains and some ups and downs, but he really fit the scheme well. He does fit the scheme well. His ability to blitz and rush the passer and he made coverage look easy.
“The game had slowed down for him and all those things together, it’s disappointing to lose a player like that, but we support JOK and everything that he does. He’ll still have a big impact on our team this year. It’s not going to be playing, but he’ll still have a big presence.”
Fortunately for the Browns, they drafted off-ball linebacker Carson Schwesinger at No. 33 overall.
“Carson, a little bit like Mason (Graham), it’s hard to see where they are right now, but he’s working really hard,” Schwartz said. “He picks things up really fast and he’s big and he’s athletic. So, he’s got a lot of good things going for him.”
**Bubba Ventrone hopes to use Diontae Johnson in the return game**
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Ventrone plans to use Johnson, a former second-team All-Pro as a punt returner in 2019, in the return game here.
“In 2019, I was at his pro day at Toledo scouting him and another player that I ended up signing in Indy, Ashton Dolan,” Ventrone said. “But yeah, he’s had production in his career. Super good, like great hands, has really good ability to make (guys) miss quick and fast, good vision. So he’ll definitely be a guy that we’ll factor in.”
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