Myles Garrett, Larry Jackson discuss Aggies' progress, potential

When you’re as good as Myles Garrett, it would be awfully tempting to be satisfied with what you’ve achieved through two seasons.

With 22.5 sacks, 32 tackles for loss and the attention of half an opposing offensive line every time you step on the field, you may pat yourself on the back.

That’s not what Garrett does — and that’s part of what makes him the player he is.

When asked after Wednesday's Texas A&M spring football practice whether he felt he endured a sophomore slump, Garrett responded frankly.
 
“I felt like I did," he said. "I didn't achieve my goals, so I’m going to try and do my best next season to achieve those goals.”

The star defensive end now preparing for his third season in Aggieland expounded upon what those goals actually were.

Coming as a surprise to nobody in attendance, they were quite lofty.

“Fifteen sacks and 25 TFLs,” Garrett said. “And Defensive Player of The Year, nationally. If you’re going to go for anything, you have to go for being the best.”

In the eyes of his strength coach, Larry Jackson, Myles is already all you could ask for. In fact, Jackson wouldn't mind having a squad built just like him.

“Myles is the kind of guy where, if we had a team like that, I could just give them the workout, go sit in my office, and then come Saturday everybody would be out there making plays and we would win every week," Jackson said. “That guy is great. When he pulls his shirt off, it looks like I’m doing my job.

"He can run all day and the guy is like 6-5. You cannot complain too much with that one.”

With all that said, Garrett still feels like he can become greater.

How, you ask? Mainly by honing his craft throughout each and every practice.

“Everybody can get faster and get stronger,” Garrett said. “But it’s the little things like technique, getting off the line, bending and all the little drills we do that will make us better than the rest.”

Having teammates around him that will push themselves and the team toward greatness is another big piece of the puzzle.

Guys like Dasheon Hall (who elected to return for his senior season), Daylon Mack and Otaro Alaka can create opportunities for Garrett by wreaking some havoc of their own.

According to Jackson, a new source of leadership on the other side of the ball may prove to be even more beneficial.

Since arriving on campus, Trevor Knight has done nothing but lift his teammates up with both his work ethic and his attitude. Quite simply, that’s all you could ask for up to this point.

“He’s so positive in his energy," Jackson said. "It doesn't matter what time of day he’s working out, (Trevor) has this look in his eye and you can tell he is very excited to be here. It’ll definitely mean something when you have a guy that really wants to be here and is really trying to pull the team together.

“He knows this is his last chance to get it done and every day, when he comes in, if anything negative happens, he flips it into a positive for the whole team. That gelling and chemistry of not just the offense, but of the entire team, is what you need to compete in this league.”

Chemistry seemed to be a key word for Garrett, too.

He feels like another spring with John Chavis at the helm and some injured players getting back in the mix will help the team improve tremendously this year.

As for his goals this upcoming season, he wasn't nearly as talkative.

“I can’t tell y’all what they are yet," Garrett said. "You’ll see.”

You can bet on one thing: whatever they are, he won’t be satisfied until he reaches them.