Being selected to the Pro Bowl is nothing new for Browns DE Myles Garrett – who earned his sixth career selection on Jan. 2.
However, as he prepares for the final game of one of his best seasons in the NFL, Garrett is honored to be invited to join the league’s best in Orlando as a starter at the 2025 Pro Bowl.
"It's special. I'm grateful for every single (selection)," Garrett said. "Always excited to go out there and see some of the very best. I know some of those guys pretty well and being around greatness, that's rare. So, I just try to take what I can from the experience and like I said, not take it for granted."
Garrett's selection comes after the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year put together yet another dominant season. With one game remaining, Garrett is tied for the league lead in sacks with 14 and has the most tackles for loss in the NFL with 21. His quarterback pressure rate of 18.9 percent is the third-highest among players with eight or more sacks.
Garrett's elite production has come while facing double teams on a league-high 30 percent of pass rush attempts. Because of the extra attention opposing offenses have devoted to Garrett, the eight-year veteran thinks he's having an even better season than he did in 2023.
"I faced much more difficult odds this year, and offenses have done quite a lot to try to take me out of the game and made it blatantly obvious," Garrett said. "But I feel like the guys around me have really helped me thrive as much as I have at this point. I've just got to continue to add on to what I've done with this last game. But I couldn't have done it without all the guys with me, the other 10."
One of the other 10 players around Garrett who has enjoyed a strong season has been CB Denzel Ward, who was also selected to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in his career. Ward, who will not play in Week 18 against the Ravens due to a shoulder injury, leads the league in pass breakups with 19 and has allowed receptions on just 58.3 percent of targets this season.
While Ward's season is now over, head coach Kevin Stefanski has been impressed with what he saw out of the seven-year veteran this season.
"Obviously disappointed with this injury but can't take away from how well he's played this season," Stefanski said. "Teams don't often throw his way. When they do, it's not oftentimes successful. He's just got that innate ability to defend the other team's best guy typically. So, really proud of how he played."
While Garrett and Ward have gone to the Pro Bowl previously in their careers, WR Jerry Jeudy earned his first selection as a Pro Bowl and starter after his debut season as a member of the Browns. With one game remaining, Jeudy has 1,166 receiving yards and four touchdowns this season, marking the first time the five-year veteran has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.
Although he is disappointed in the losses the Browns accumulated this year, Jeudy is happy to have found a significant role in the Browns offense.
"I'm extremely blessed and extremely grateful to have the opportunity to make the Pro Bowl for my first year," Jeudy said. "I couldn't have done it without the guys in the locker room, couldn't have done it without the coaching staff putting me in the right position to be able to make plays and be successful in this offense."
The Browns acquired Jeudy in a 2024 offseason trade with the Broncos. Jeudy quickly developed a chemistry with each of the Browns quarterbacks, catching touchdown passes from QB Deshaun Watson and QB Jameis Winston as well as putting together 114 receiving yards between QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson's two starts.
Jeudy sees his Pro Bowl selection as a validation for the hard work he put in over the offseason and training camp as he adjusted to a new offensive scheme.
"I feel like I've always been the type of guy who was able to perform like this, I just had to be put in the right position to do so," Jeudy said. "Coming here with Coach Ken (Dorsey) and all the offensive coaches put me in the right position to really be successful and really perform, and I just took advantage of that opportunity."
