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NFL

NFL prospect Garrett makes playful plea to Dallas

Myles Garrett was in a “playful mood” two months ago when he made a plea to play for the Dallas Cowboys.

The ESPN video, released Friday, was taken during a relaxed interview session at the College Football Awards show Dec. 8.

Garrett attended the show at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta and spoke to an ESPN social media producer, who asked whether there was a specific team he might want to join in the NFL. His answer was “100 percent supposed to be fun,” the producer said.

Garrett, a Texas A&M defensive end who hadn’t officially declared for the NFL draft at that time, addressed Jerry Jones, owner of his hometown Cowboys, and Dallas coach Jason Garrett.

“All right, I’m speaking to you, Jerry,” Myles Garrett said. “Mr. Garrett, make it happen. Dak Prescott is leading our team right now. I need you to take Tony Romo, take a couple picks, give them to Cleveland so you can pick me up. Please. I would love to play in Dallas. Just make it happen.”

The social media producer said Myles Garrett’s comments were in the spirit of an upbeat event. All players in attendance went through a series of interviews before the event.

“He was definitely having fun and was in a playful mood,” the producer said. “One of the questions right before that was about his interest in dinosaurs. That’s what we do. We get fun little nuggets.

“It was 100 percent supposed to be fun. He was just having fun. He knew I worked for ESPN and that I was videoing him.”

In a separate video for KRIV-TV in Houston that was posted on Twitter on Thursday, Garrett said he would “definitely” like to play for the Browns.

“People might say, oh they’re this, they’re that, or I made a comment about cold weather and they kind of pointed toward Cleveland,” Garrett said. “It doesn’t matter to me. I’ll play wherever they put me. It’s about your mindset you go into it [with]. If you go in there with a mindset that you’re going to turn things around, you can make that contagious and people start to believe in it, then you can turn it into a winning program wherever you go.”

Garrett grew up in Arlington, where the Cowboys play. He is projected to be one of the top two or three picks in this draft, perhaps the first overall. The Browns have the first pick and need a quarterback, but it would be highly unlikely that a rebuilding Browns team would trade for Romo, who is 36.

It’s even more unlikely that the Browns would alter their draft plans based on a video like this one — especially given when it was taped.

Garrett attended the banquet because he was one of three nominees for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the defensive player of the year in college football. Defensive lineman Jonathan Allen of Alabama won the award.

NFL

McVay: LT Robinson still 'big part' of Rams' plans

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Greg Robinson, the former No. 2 overall pick who has struggled at left tackle throughout his three-year career, remains “a big part” of the Los Angeles Rams’ plans moving forward, new coach Sean McVay said Friday.

McVay did not specify whether Robinson would remain at left tackle, but he did praise his talent.

“When you see some of the things he’s able to do, you see the athleticism in space when he’s pulling around and using some of those perimeter schemes that they did offensively last year,” McVay said during a news conference from the team facility, which followed a meet-and-greet with his new assistant coaches. “He’s a guy that we’re excited to get around. That’s why it’s frustrating that we have to wait so long to get these guys in the building, see them on the grass.”

Rams left tackle Greg Robinson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 draft, leads the NFL with 31 total penalties over the past two years. G. Newman Lowrance/AP Photo

Robinson has committed an NFL-leading 31 total penalties over the past two years. In 2016, Pro Football Focus graded him 71st among 78 qualified tackles. He was benched on two separate occasions this past season, when the entire offensive line struggled to protect rookie quarterback Jared Goff and create space for running back Todd Gurley.

There was some thought the Rams might simply part ways with Robinson, who will cost about $6.8 million toward the salary cap in 2017, but it appears the new staff is not ready to do that.

New offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, who spent the past two years with the Buffalo Bills, said Robinson has shown “flashes of skills” to remain an NFL left tackle.

“Now, why it’s not consistent, I can’t answer that; I don’t know,” Kromer said. “When I can work with a player and get my hands on him and be outside and ask him to do something and ask him to do it again and ask him to adjust something, then I know what we can do with him, how we can fit him in the offense. But until then, on tape — I don’t know what he was told. I kind of know what he was supposed to do, but I don’t know what his mindset was. I don’t know it with any of them. So, I’m just looking for individual skills, like a scout.”

At 6-foot-5, 332 pounds, Robinson is surprisingly athletic and has the skills to play left tackle, something that was obvious when he came out of Auburn in 2014 but just hasn’t clicked yet in the NFL.

The Rams’ previous offensive line coach, Paul Boudreau, spoke during the season about Robinson’s inconsistent mechanics.

“He’s all over the place with his feet, he’s all over the place with his hands,” Boudreau said. “And when he gets in trouble, when he stops his feet, he grabs, and he gets those holding penalties that you really don’t need. So, he’s got to concentrate on focusing on the little things.”

The Rams could try moving Robinson to guard, where he can more freely utilize his power. But the best pending free agents are guards, a list that includes Kevin Zeitler, T.J. Lang and Larry Warford. Andrew Whitworth, a 35-year-old former second-round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals, is one of few notable left tackles eligible for free agency.

An in-house option at the position, besides Robinson, could be Rodger Saffold, who was perhaps the Rams’ best offensive lineman last year.

Asked about transitioning to guard shortly after the Rams concluded a 4-12 season, Robinson said: “It’s not really something that I’m just going to accept, because I’m so used to playing tackle. It would be hard to adjust. But if I have to adjust, that will be something that I will do.”

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