The Los Angeles Rams got a welcome sight on Sunday and again on Monday: Myles Garrett was back on the practice field.
Garrett, the edge rusher who had been dealing with knee swelling for much of the past month, had sat out the final few weeks of training camp and the preseason. But the Rams kept treating the issue as a precaution, and the latest stretch of work suggests they’re getting the response they wanted as Week 1 approaches.
“He's been doing a ton of walkthroughs on his own,” said defensive coordinator Chris Shula. “He's fully immersed as far as knowing where to line up and what to do exactly in the defense. Now we're excited to go out and just play 11-on-11 football with him and continue to see exactly what he does well and mold our defense to it.”
The Rams will release their first injury report on Tuesday, but Garrett’s return for back-to-back practices points in the right direction for Thursday’s opener against the 49ers. It’s the first time he’s done that since the early days of training camp, and it lines up with the team’s plan all along: get him healthy for Week 1, not overloaded in August.
That cautious approach fit the Rams’ broader plan with their veteran group. Garrett, now 30, did not need the same kind of camp reps younger players do, especially with the team trying to avoid turning a manageable issue into something bigger. With the Rams carrying high expectations, staying healthy for the opener mattered more than piling up practice snaps.
Now the focus shifts to what Garrett looks like once the games count. The Rams brought him in to be a difference-maker, and Thursday against San Francisco will be the first chance to see how he fits into the defense and what kind of impact he can have right away.
In Other News...
Rams Secondary Overhaul Suddenly Looks Bigger Than Fans Realized
The Rams spent the offseason reshaping the back end of their defense, and the cornerback additions are the kind of moves that can change how a secondary looks from the first snap of the season onward. Around the league, a handful of notable defensive backs changed teams, but Los Angeles stands out because it brought in both Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie, two names that immediately change the conversation about depth, matchups and week-to-week stability.
Watson and McDuffie arrive with different resumes, but the common thread is that each gives the Rams a real chance to raise the floor of a unit that needed fresh answers. The broader league context matters here too, with Chris Johnson landing in Miami, Benjamin St-Juste going to Green Bay and Jamel Dean heading to Pittsburgh, but Los Angeles may have made the most intriguing bet on upside. How quickly that overhaul clicks will go a long way toward showing whether the Rams just added bodies or truly changed the shape of their secondary. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Are Testing A Risky Australia Plan Before NFL History
The Rams have already started treating Melbourne like a dry run, sending employees to Australia to work through the logistics of what would be the NFLs first regular-season game there. The goal is less about sightseeing than survival: charting the travel, the flight experience, sleep, fatigue and recovery so the team can understand what it might feel like to arrive halfway around the world and still be ready to play soon after.
It is a more aggressive approach than the one other teams, such as the 49ers, are expected to take, with San Francisco planning to get to Melbourne a week early. For the Rams, the question is whether the league can turn a historic event into a workable football week without giving away too much on the front end, and the answer may shape how future international games are handled. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Stafford Just Became A Bigger Threat For The Rams
Matthew Staffords postseason story has changed dramatically since he arrived in Los Angeles. After going 0-3 in the playoffs with Detroit, he has since built a 7-3 playoff record with the Rams, and that shift has helped redefine what this franchise can expect when the calendar turns. With the roster around him continuing to evolve, theres a growing sense that Stafford is no longer just the quarterback trying to survive January. He is part of a team that has learned how to lean into those moments.
The Rams have also put work into the rest of the operation, especially the rushing game and the defense, with offseason additions like Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald adding to the sense that the support system around Stafford could get even stronger. Looking ahead to 2026, the expectation is not simply that Stafford will be asked to carry the offense, but that he may have more help than ever if the group comes together the way the Rams envision. The upside is obvious, even if the full picture still has to play out. [Read more 🡒]