Myles Garrett hasn’t given the Rams the jolt they were counting on, and the wait is only getting longer.
Through four games, the Los Angeles edge rusher still doesn’t have a tackle. He’s missed three straight games, and he still hasn’t shared the field with Aaron Donald - the pairing that helped fuel Donald’s push toward unretirement in earnest. That part alone has already made Garrett’s start feel flat.
The bigger issue is the timeline. Garrett opened with a meaningless Week 1 performance, then went under the knife for knee surgery.
Late last month, NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that he’s likely to miss at least six weeks, and the source material makes clear that’s the optimistic read. Add in the time it will take him to get medically cleared, then get back up to speed and work himself into the defense, and this could stretch into more than seven weeks of non-impact football for the NFL’s No. 1 pass rusher.
That leaves the Rams in a holding pattern. There’s no alternative but to lean on the healthy bodies they have and keep surviving without the player they brought in to tilt the defense. The good news is that group has held up well enough to keep the season afloat.
Week 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles was the clearest sign yet. It was defensive coordinator Chris Shula’s best-ever performance, and it came without Garrett or Donald on the field.
Even more striking, the Rams defense got better as the game went along, which is not something this team has often been able to say. The unit, in the source’s words, “snatched defeat from a game that had a road loss written all over it.”
Garrett will be back eventually, but the way this has unfolded makes it look less like a player returning from a short absence and more like a trade deadline addition arriving in the middle of the season. If he’s not able to make an impact until the second half, that’s the shape of it.
Still, there’s a possible upside if the Rams keep winning in the meantime. Garrett would come back with fresh legs, plenty of edge, and a real need to make up for lost time.
If that happens, he should be a problem. The catch is obvious: the Rams have to keep building something worth joining.
In Other News...
Kelly Stafford Just Raised A Bigger Question About The Rams Future
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The bigger takeaway for Rams fans is not any immediate roster news, but the uncertainty surrounding what comes after Matthew Staffords playing days. Kelly Stafford said the familys future in Los Angeles is still unsettled, with her daughters rooted where they are and her husband leaning toward staying put, leaving a familiar offseason question hanging over the quarterbacks long-term plans without answering it. [Read more 🡒]
Sean McVay Sparked Something Rams Fans Have Been Waiting For
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The Rams put up 14 unanswered points after that huddle, while the defense did its part by slowing Philadelphia late and helping close the door on the comeback. For a team that has been looking for more of that old late-game punch, it was the sort of rally that can change the feel of a week, even if the broader questions around consistency still remain. [Read more 🡒]
Rams May Have Left The Eagles With A Much Bigger Problem
Saquon Barkleys Thursday absence from Eagles practice put another layer of concern around Philadelphias backfield, and the timing only sharpened the issue. The star running back is dealing with a hamstring injury from the recent game against the Rams, leaving his availability for Week 5 against the Jaguars up in the air as the Eagles try to sort out a depth chart that suddenly looks thin.
Tank Bigsbys move to injured reserve only adds to the pressure, because it leaves Philadelphia with far less margin for error if Barkley cannot go. In that case, Will Shipley would be positioned for a much bigger workload, turning a routine midweek injury update into a potentially significant problem for an Eagles offense already managing uncertainty at a key spot. [Read more 🡒]