CLEVELAND (AP) - The only Big Ben that Myles Garrett will see this season is Roethlisberger.
Cleveland’s rookie defensive end, who has played so well when healthy, won’t travel with the team to London because of a concussion and will miss Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Garrett has already missed four games with a badly sprained right ankle and now he’ll sit out again.
Team officials and coach Hue Jackson had been hoping Garrett would be well enough to make the trip, but he stayed behind Thursday night when the team departed for its first regular-season game abroad.
“Myles is a great player,” linebacker Christian Kirksey said Wednesday. “He’s just coming off the edge, bringing the extra spark to the defense, being that guy that can go out there and make an impact play. That’s definitely something that we’ll miss.”
Garrett was placed in concussion protocol on Tuesday after he arrived at the team’s facility not feeling well. The 21-year-old recorded a sack on Sunday and didn’t have any symptoms until two days later.
Garrett recorded a sack on his first play from scrimmage this season and he has four sacks in just three games. His playing time had steadily increased each week and he was getting back in game shape before suffering the head injury and setback.
He’ll have another week to recover as the winless Browns have a bye next week.
Second-year end Carl Nassib is expected to start in Garrett’s spot.
Following the draft, Garrett said he wanted his first career sack to come against Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh’s star quarterback. But Garrett missed the season opener against the Steelers. He’ll get another crack at Big Ben in the season finale on Dec. 31.
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