The Cleveland Browns announced Wednesday that the NFL has reinstated defensive end Myles Garrett from his suspension.

Browns general manager Andrew Berry released the following statement:

After he ripped off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph's helmet and hit him in the head with it during a Week 11 game last season, the NFL suspended Garrett indefinitely and announced he would at least miss the remainder of the 2019 campaign.

Now that Garrett has been reinstated, the path is clear for him to be in Cleveland's starting lineup in Week 1 of the 2020 season.

Garrett tweeted the following after news of his reinstatement broke:

ESPN's Adam Schefter noted that Garrett's first course of action after reinstatement is to travel to Tanzania next week as part of the NFL Waterboys humanitarian effort to bring clean water to communities in East Africa.

Shortly after the incident last season, Garrett issued a statement in which he apologized to all involved:

"Last night, I made a terrible mistake. I lost my cool and what I did was selfish and unacceptable. I know that we are all responsible for our actions, and I can only prove my true character through my actions moving forward.

"I want to apologize to Mason Rudolph, my teammates, our entire organization, our fans and to the NFL. I know I have to be accountable for what happened, learn from my mistake, and I fully intend to do so."

The 24-year-old was on pace for perhaps the best season of his career prior to the suspension, as he had registered 29 tackles, 18 quarterback hits, 11 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and two forced fumbles through 10 games.

Garrett, who went No. 1 overall in the 2017 draft, was building nicely upon a breakout 2018 season that saw him rack up 44 tackles, 29 quarterback hits, 12 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.

The Texas A&M product is the centerpiece of Cleveland's defense, and he was a big reason why many analysts were picking the Browns to win the AFC North ahead of the 2019 season.

That didn't happen, though, as the Baltimore Ravens went 14-2 and the Browns finished 6-10, marking their 12th consecutive losing season and 17th straight year without a playoff appearance. The team finished 2-4 without Garrett.

The Browns hit the reset button this offseason, as they fired head coach Freddie Kitchens and replaced him with Kevin Stefanski while also parting ways with GM John Dorsey and bringing in Berry as his replacement.

Cleveland still needs to make some personnel improvements on both sides of the ball and get a far better performance from quarterback Baker Mayfield next season, but with Garrett back in the fold, the Browns have a chance to bounce back from what was a dismal 2019 campaign.