Rams star pass rusher Myles Garrett will take the field at practice this week, opening his 21-day window for a return from an early-season knee procedure.
Rams head coach Sean McVay declined to say that Garrett will be unable to play in Sunday’s road game against the Washington Commanders.
“I think just taking it a day at a time is going to be the best way that we can approach it,” McVay told reporters Monday. “Think that’s the right thing for him, and really just to see how he responds. But I think it’s a real positive that we’re starting his clock.”
The Rams acquired Garrett from the Cleveland Browns to bolster an already solid defense, but the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year was hobbled in training camp with knee soreness and was ineffective in a season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Garrett ended up undergoing knee surgery with the expectation that he would be able to return this season. He was projected to have a recovery time of six weeks, putting him slightly behind that original schedule.
Garrett hardly looked like himself when he failed to record a tackle in his Rams debut while playing 40 snaps on defense and six on special teams.
Garrett, 30, broke the NFL single-season sack record last season with 23 on the way to being named the 2025 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
He is the first player in NFL history (since sacks started being recorded in 1982) to notch at least 12 sacks in six straight seasons (2020-25). He is third among active players in career sacks with 125.5 behind Von Miller (139.5) and Cameron Jordan (132).
The Rams acquired Garrett from the Browns on June 1 for outside linebacker Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round selection and a 2029 conditional third-round pick.