Garrett: Bengals' Chase calling Browns elves 'disrespectful'
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase's recent comments regarding the Browns didn't sit well with Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett ahead of their Week 1 matchup.
The Browns have beaten the Bengals in eight of their last 10 meetings, and Chase - who's only defeated Cleveland once since being drafted in 2021 - was asked on Thursday if he's tired of the noise regarding his rivals.
"I don't really hear it. If you ask me, I don't really pay attention to it because Cleveland is Cleveland," Chase said, according to Jeremy Rauch of Fox 19.
"It feels like a regular game to me. It don't feel no different. It's just the hooping and hollering about the Cleveland ... Browns. I was about to call them the (elves)," added Chase while taking a shot at the revived logo the Browns are using at midfield in 2023.
Garrett addressed the remarks, calling them "disrespectful."
"He didn't have to go there," Garrett said, according to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. "The elves was probably ... he knew better. We might have to have a discussion before or after the game, maybe during if I see him. But yeah the elves is a little bit too far."
This isn't the first time a divisional rival chirped Cleveland. In January 2021, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said "The Browns is the Browns" when asked if that Cleveland team had a different vibe after snapping the franchise's long postseason drought. The Browns went on to beat the Steelers 48-37 in the wild-card matchup that year.
"I was asking that myself yesterday, why everybody wants to talk about the Browns is the Browns and Cleveland is Cleveland," Garrett said Friday, per Cabot. "I don't know what that means. My interpretation is that teams feel like the way the media looks at us is we've improved pretty much every year, at least coming up. We're trending in the right direction and they don't want to look at it any differently than any other team."
The All-Pro defender added: "I don't care where I'm at. I just want to play ball. So I mean, I don't really take offense to it, but I will say I do have a sack on Ja'Marr Chase. I wouldn't mind adding to it."
Chase didn't play in one of Cincinnati's two matchups versus Cleveland in 2022. He caught 10 passes for 119 yards and one touchdown in their Week 14 contest, helping the Bengals claim their first win over the Browns in the Joe Burrow era.
Meanwhile, Garrett has racked up 11 career sacks against the Bengals, the most against any opponent he's faced since entering the NFL as the No. 1 pick in 2017.
In addition to their Week 1 game in Cleveland, the Browns and Bengals will also face off in Week 18 this season.