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Garrett open to reconciliation with Rudolph: 'I'd be happy to make it happen'

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Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett is open to making amends with Mason Rudolph after hitting the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback in the head with a helmet last season.

"If it were to happen, I'd be fine with it,'' Garrett told Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. "Not just fine, but I wouldn't mind it and I'd be happy to make it happen if there were a way. I'm not sure how I'd go about that, how I'd broach that.

"I'm not even sure if he'd want to do that, but I wouldn't have a problem sitting down with him and just not talking about the incident, just talking man to man, how we move forward, and just being better men and football players and not letting something like that happen again.

"Whether we can do that, I'm not sure, but I'd be willing to extend the olive branch and make that happen."

Garrett and Rudolph will be on the same field Sunday for the first time since the incident occurred last November. The two haven't spoken over the last 11 months, though Garrett said he has thought about reaching out.

"I just don't want any grudges," he said. "I don't have any grudge against him. I don't have any ill intent against him. It's not like I'd have anything against him if I saw him in public or if I saw him in a game and we were suited up. I'd just play him like I play anybody else. ... Other than that night - before that play and after that play - I don't think we spoke two words to each other."

Garrett accused Rudolph after the altercation of hurling a racial slur at him on the field, but he couldn't provide proof. The NFL suspended Garrett for the rest of the season and ordered Rudolph to pay a fine for his role in the brawl. Rudolph vehemently denied uttering anything Garrett could have perceived as racist.

"It'd be like other instances where people agree to disagree," Garrett said. "Just what I heard, just what you said you said and that's what it is. If you say you didn't say that, that's OK, but that's what I heard. It is what it is at the end of the day.

"We're men and it shouldn't be one situation that keeps you from respecting each other because you can't look past that. If he wants to hold on to it, I'm not going to have any problems with him if he still has a problem with me."

Garrett noted that he considered quitting football in the aftermath of the fight and acknowledged he'll always be associated with the incident. He ultimately decided to continue his career and signed a five-year, $125-million contract extension with the Browns in August.

The 24-year-old was a candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year award at the time of his suspension and is off to another strong start in 2020 with six sacks through five games.

Rudolph hasn't appeared in a contest this season after returning to a backup role behind a healthy Ben Roethlisberger.

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