Myles Garrett says he 'never complained' when T.J. Watt won DPOY, motivated for matchups Thursday night

BEREA — The rivalry within the rivalry will have extra spice Thursday night as the Browns and Steelers meet for the first time this season.When Cleveland's Myles Garrett broke through last season to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the first time, Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt finished second and felt slighted despite taking home the award in 2021."Nothing I'm not used to," he posted on X on Feb. 8, the night of NFL Honors.Commentary: Firing Kevin Stefanski would be the wrong moveGarrett was asked Tuesday how he felt about Watt's reaction."I've never complained about the trophy not being at my house and vice versa. He shouldn't be feeling two ways about knowing it's going to me," Garrett said. "So just going to play the game. I don't play against T.J., he doesn't play against me. We'll have a plan to go out and do what we're supposed to, win the game and dominate on defense."It's up for grabs this year, and we'll see the best man win."Watt is the prohibitive betting favorite (5-to-9) through Week 11, according to BetOnline.ag, as he has 7.5 sacks, 18 quarterback hits, 12 tackles for loss and a league-high four forced fumbles. The Steelers lead the AFC North at 8-2.Garrett is 33-to-1 to repeat, tied for ninth-best odds. He has seven sacks, 15 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles for the 2-8 Browns.Zone Coverage PodcastGarrett was asked if Watt ever said anything to him after the post that received 5.5 million views."No, he didn't say nothing to me," Garrett said. "He's going to have to apologize when I see him."He acknowledged extra motivation comes from Watt's reaction and the fight to be recognized as the best in the league."Absolutely," Garrett said. "Two of the very best in the same division, play each other twice a year. Fans hate each other. That kind of stuff gets you excited. I know we both feel it and get a little bit juiced up for the matchup."Garrett and Watt have been two of the NFL's most dominant edge rushers since they entered the league in 2017 — Garrett as the No. 1 pick and Watt No. 30. Watt leads the NFL with 104 sacks since then, and Garrett's second with 95.5.Garrett corrected a reporter's characterization of his relationship with Watt when asked if it had changed."I wouldn't say we're friends. I would say we're friendly and have a respect for him and his brother," Garrett said referring to former Texans and Cardinals defensive lineman J.J., who was DPOY three times. "They've both been great figures and advocates for this game. It doesn't really change anything, but we'll see what happens on Thursday."Browns defensive end Myles Garrett accepts the AP's NFL Defensive Player of the Year award Feb. 8 in Las Vegas.APA member of the Steelers media relations department and legions of their fans spent the runup to the coronation of Garrett as DPOY railing against the possibility and citing a variety of statistics. The most popular: Watt became the first player in NFL history to rank in the top five in sacks, tackles for loss, quarterback hits, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries and not win the award.Watt expounded on the post in a brief interview last year with SB Nation."It was just one of those things where people were seeing I wasn't there," he said. "I wanted to let them know why I wasn't there, and it was just a situation where it is something I'm truly used to at this point, so I'll just use it as motivation going forward."Garrett had never received a first-place vote in his first six seasons but got 23 of 50 after leading Cleveland's No. 1-ranked defense with 14 sacks, 17 tackles for loss, 30 quarterback hits and four forced fumbles. He had a franchise-record 16 sacks in each of the previous two seasons.Watt had a league-high 19 sacks last season. He tied Michael Strahan's NFL record with 22.5 when he won DPOY in 2021 and had a league-best 15 in 2020 when he was runner-up to Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald.Watt's having another monster season as the Steelers defense ranks second in scoring (16.2 points a game), fourth against the run (90.8 yards) and eighth overall (305.3)"He's playing some great ball," Garrett said. "They are as a unit, their defensive line front is solid from the left end to the right end position. So it's not just him, but he leads that front with what he does, the energy that he brings and obviously they take on his and (Cam) Hayward's mentality when they go out there."Steelers coach Mike Tomlin returned the compliment when discussing Garrett, who had three sacks in four plays Nov. 3 against the Chargers."Man, he's a game-wrecker," Tomlin told reporters in Pittsburgh. "We're highly familiar with that. I'd imagine the Chargers were less familiar because he took that game over a couple of weeks ago in a big way, but we know he's capable of that."The post Myles Garrett says he 'never complained' when T.J. Watt won DPOY, motivated for matchups Thursday night first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.