Name: Mike Tomlin on Myles Garrett: 'We’re not looking for that low-hanging fruit or that reality TV storyline’
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Mike Tomlin on Myles Garrett: 'We’re not looking for that low-hanging fruit or that reality TV storyline’

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NEW!511sharesCLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mike Tomlin made it clear Tuesday he’s not making this week about facing Myles Garrett for the first time since the helmet incident of last season."We’re not looking for that low-hanging fruit or that reality TV storyline,'' he told Steelers reporters on a video conference Tuesday. "They’re a 4-1 team. This a big game in 2020.''He preferred to focus more on the magnitude of the game between his 4-0 ballclub and the 4-1 Browns."We like being in the kitchen and AFC North ball is being in the kitchen‚'’ he said. "It’s hot in there.''He did, however, rave about Garrett and the amazing start he’s off to this season with a six sacks for No. 2 in the NFL behind Aaron Donald."We know about his freakish talent, but he has play to match here in 2020,'' he said. "He’s a Defensive Player of the Year-like candidate looking at the video. He’s a sack-fumble guy. He’s a game changer. He has in just about every game they’ve played thus far. He’s a guy you have to be mindful of not only in terms of his location but what he’s doing and the quality and the capability in which he can do it and his potential impact on the game. We just have to be really mindful of that.''Browns coach Kevin Stefanski equally downplayed the incident when asked about the focus on Garrett this week.“He has done a great job this whole offseason, training camp and all through these first few ball games,'' Stefanski said. "He’s all about ball. He’s providing leadership to the defense and to the team. We know about the production, but I just think the things he does out there on the field and in the locker room, providing leadership is very impressive to me.”As for the Steelers' longtime dominance over the Browns, including the Browns' failure to win in Pittsburgh since 2003, Tomlin dismissed it."You think Kevin Stefanski cares? You think Joe Woods cares?'' he said. "I’ve learned to shelve my experiences and get focused.''Garrett told cleveland.com last month that he pondered quitting football after last November’s incident, in which he ripped off Mason Rudolph’s helmet and hit the QB over the head with it. Garrett later said he heard Rudolph call him the “N” word, an accusation that Rudolph has denied.Garrett, second in the NFL with six sacks this season, vowed that nothing like that will ever happen again."I know that in my heart — and the people who have raised me [know] — that’s never who I’ve been,'' he said. "I’ve never been one to crawl up in a ball and to shy away from problems or things that happen to me. I had the opportunity to show that my life and what I’ve been through is bigger than the game of football. I’ve been raised with too many values, too many great role models and peers who have showed me the way to have just lost my way with one incident and it won’t define me.''Garrett also said he’d like to clear the air with Rudolph, who’s currently the backup to Ben Roethlisberger. It’s unlikely to happen considering he is sticking to his guns that Rudolph used a racial slur."If it were to happen, I’d be fine with it,'' he said. "Not just fine, but I wouldn’t mind it and I’d be happy to make it happen, if there were a way. I’m not sure how I’d go about that, how I’d broach that. I’m not even sure if he’d want to do that but I wouldn’t have a problem sitting down with him and just not talking about the incident, just talking man-to-man, how we move forward, and just being better men and football players and not letting something like that happen again."Whether we can do that, I’m not sure, but I’d be willing to extend the olive branch and make that happen.''New Browns face masks for sale: Buy Browns gear: , , , More Browns coverageNote to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

NEW!511sharesCLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mike Tomlin made it clear Tuesday he’s not making this week about facing Myles Garrett for the first time since the helmet incident of last season."We’re not looking for that low-hanging fruit or that reality TV storyline,'' he told Steelers reporters on a video conference Tuesday. "They’re a 4-1 team. This a big game in 2020.''He preferred to focus more on the magnitude of the game between his 4-0 ballclub and the 4-1 Browns."We like being in the kitchen and AFC North ball is being in the kitchen‚'’ he said. "It’s hot in there.''He did, however, rave about...

Mike Tomlin on Myles Garrett: 'We’re not looking for that low-hanging fruit or that reality TV storyline’

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