Does he ever see himself in a different uniform? The sharks are circling following the Cooper trade, and rumors are rife on the internet about which teams should pursue arguably the NFL's best pass rusher and a future Hall of Famer.

“I hope not,” Garett said. “I always said that I wanted to play here until the end of my career. I want to win here. I want to win a championship here, so that's not on my mind. Regardless of the outcome, I always focus on how we can improve and change things. In my opinion, I never think of doing anything else and we have to finish what we started. Keep the main thing, the main thing. Work on where we are now. No one should be worried about the situation with Amari and its impact on him. We're still here.

“Everyone is still here. I wish great things for Amari and hope he continues his great career, but we have to think about the situation we are in and how we can improve it and how we can significantly improve our situation at the end of the year. “

Although the Cooper trade appeared to be a sell-off, Garrett doesn't see it as a capitulation. He is determined to turn things around and embark on an unlikely run.

“The mission doesn’t change,” Garrett said. “The AFC North is still open. We have to win. We have to win and we have to win one game at a time. You can't be discouraged by what's happened before and you can't look at everyone around you in a team-oriented way that says, “I wish we had done this or wish we had that.” None of that helps the situation.

“The only thing that helps the situation is winning. This means winning every rep. That means going out and winning in film study, trying to learn more, retaining more information, being where you're supposed to be, attacking everything 100% when you need to.

“It will take even more and require even more effort every week because this intensity can only increase. Because every away game is a playoff game, especially with an AFC opponent.”

He believes the Browns have the personnel necessary to pull off a turnaround, even if their playoff hopes are slim, especially with Nick Chubb returning on Sunday.

“I feel like we’ve been doing it since the beginning of the year,” he said. “It was really a sign of our mentality and performance. There was a lack of concentration and we need to improve and we did and we were close. But we will get to where we need to be.”

Like everyone on the team, Garrett is looking forward to Chubb's return. The Browns have fallen to 32nd in total offense and 28th in rushing.

“I feel like a fan when he’s on the field,” Garrett said. “He's the best running back the league has ever seen in this modern era, whenever he can touch the ball and break through that line.” We're all looking forward to giving him some of our energy while he plays to watch and get him back on the field on defense as best we can and just try to support him as best we can.

“I don’t want to put too much strain on him – he’s just a man – and make his return pretty easy. Don’t make him work too hard, but we’re obviously excited to see what he can do and what he can bring to this team and help us turn things around.”

Garrett also really wants to face Joe Burrow, one of his favorite quarterbacks, because he respects his game so much. This season, after undergoing wrist surgery, Burrow is tied for first in the NFL with a 110.3 rating and 12 touchdown passes with just 2 interceptions. Garrett sacked Burrow eight times, more than any other quarterback, and had 12 sacks against the Bengals, the most of any team.

“There aren’t many quarterbacks like Joe,” Garrett said. “In the class he plays in, there are maybe only two or three. So I would say that you definitely get the best out of it. That's what you have to do and as much as you try to attack it every week, attack it every week, there's a little hint of that increased competition and that increased awareness and that urgency that you just know as a competitor that you really I'm going to bring it this week because you know you have some people like Ja'Marr and Tee and Burrow. You’ve got those tackles over there, so you’ve got to bring everything you’ve got for this type of game, especially because it’s a division game.”

It won't be easy for Garrett to get to Burrow on Sunday for several reasons. First, he will face four-time Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (6-8, 350), who is No. 1 in the NFL with a 96% pass block win rate, according to ESPN Analytics. Additionally, Burrow is releasing the ball quicker than ever before in an effort to stay healthy this season.

“They’re trying to keep him upright,” Garrett said. “Whether he’s on the field or not, this is a completely different team. They're as tough as can be when he's on the field, and he's able to get the ball to any of those guys. It makes it difficult, but it just makes him frustrated.

“He hit balls, got pressure in his face early and had a very tough inside attack, sending people in his face, us or us, the offensive linemen who went back there and just tried to make it difficult for him over to look past his own guys.” Because damn, two of the tackles are 6-8. So if we can support those guys and get him to throw over them instead of past them, then that can change the game too.”

Garrett is 8-2 against the Bengals and the Browns are 5-1 against Burrow, including 3-0 in Cleveland.

“Man, that’s not a statistic that I was aware of and that wouldn’t bother me, not one,” he said. “Well, we have to be 1-0 and for even more reasons. My job is to come here and win and we have a job to defend our home territory, so we will do our job as best we can.”

And a win could put some of the scare sales talk to rest.