The Browns didn’t have Myles Garrett for the second meeting with the Steelers. The defensive end missed Sunday’s rematch as part of his indefinite suspension for pegging Mason Rudolph in the head with the quarterback’s own helmet two weeks ago.
Garrett alleged during his appeal hearing with the NFL that Rudolph directed a racial slur at him, prompting his reaction.
Browns defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi returned Sunday after serving a one-game suspension for his part in the melee and spoke for the first time since Garrett’s allegation. He backed Garrett, saying Garrett told him about the alleged racial slur immediately after the game.
Ogunjobi is the first Browns player or coach to acknowledge Garrett said something in the immediate aftermath of the Week 11 ugliness.
“You’ve got to remember, nobody has ever gone through this process before,” Ogunjobi said, via Jason Lloyd of TheAthletic.com. “It’s our third year; we’ve never had something like that happen.”
Garrett was asked by reporters immediately after the game whether Rudolph had said something to set him off, and he said, “You’ve got to go look at it. I’m not going to comment on it.”
“I feel like he’s upset people were calling him a liar,” Ogunjobi said. “That’s not something to joke about. He’s not that type of person.”
Yet, Garrett apologized to Rudolph in a statement the day after the incident, which leads to the question of why if Rudolph used a racial slur?