Rams' Myles Garrett Expected to Need Six Weeks to Recover From Knee Surgery
The short version
- A knee surgery recovery is expected to keep Myles Garrett out about six weeks, per Ian Rapoport.
- Garrett played 62 percent of defensive snaps in the opener vs. San Francisco with no tackle or sack; the Rams then put him on injured reserve.
- His earliest eligible return is Week 6 vs. Arizona on Oct. 18; a six-week recovery could also cost him games vs. the Raiders and Chargers.
- Sean McVay says the Rams will not hurry Garrett back and want him at his normal level.
- Los Angeles traded Jared Verse and three picks, including a 2027 first-rounder, to Cleveland for Garrett, who had 23 sacks in his last Browns season.
Los Angeles Rams star Myles Garrett needs roughly six weeks to recover from knee surgery, per Ian Rapoport, a timeline that could keep him out beyond Week 6.
Los Angeles Rams defensive end Myles Garrett is expected to need about six weeks to recover from knee surgery, according to a report from Ian Rapoport that cited sources. That projection runs longer than the four games an injured reserve stint requires him to miss and would stretch his absence well into October, with the team planning to exercise care along the way.
Garrett arrived as a major piece for a Rams defense carrying large ambitions, one expected to give the unit an immediate lift. Instead, his opening month with the club has centered on the knee. The joint swelled repeatedly during training camp, keeping him off the field for much of that period.
He made it back for the Rams' first game, a season-opening contest against the San Francisco 49ers that was staged in Australia. Garrett appeared on 62 percent of Los Angeles' defensive plays and recorded neither a tackle nor a sack. The organization subsequently decided arthroscopic surgery was necessary and placed him on injured reserve.
League rules require anyone on injured reserve to sit at least four games, and until Rapoport's report surfaced, that floor was the only timetable on record. Garrett's first chance to play again comes in Week 6, when the Rams meet the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 18. Should the six-week estimate prove accurate, he would probably miss that game, and possibly the subsequent outings against the Las Vegas Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers as well.
According to the report, Garrett intends to make it back sooner than six weeks. The Rams have laid out a different priority. Sean McVay has said the club will not hurry the veteran onto the field and wants him performing at his customary level before he returns. Earlier, the coach had declined to offer any estimate, preferring to first see how Garrett responded to the operation.
The stakes are unusually high because of the price Los Angeles paid. To land Garrett, the Rams sent Jared Verse and three draft choices, one of them a 2027 first-round pick, to Cleveland. Garrett's last season with the Browns ended with 23 sacks, the production that justified such a heavy investment.
Losing him for an extended period deprives the defense of the player brought in to remake its pass rush. Garrett was acquired to lead that group in the season's most important moments, and the organization sees a deliberate rehabilitation as the best way to have him at full strength for them. An accelerated return would run counter to that objective.
Los Angeles plays next on the road, visiting the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday, Sept. 27. Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m. EDT, with NBC carrying the broadcast.
