Myles Garrett said his knee was not at full strength after a quiet debut with the Los Angeles Rams, calling his performance the weakest he has delivered as a professional.
The two-time Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year finished without a tackle in the Rams’ 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night at Melbourne Cricket Ground, the first regular-season NFL game in Australia.
“This was the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there. And I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to find a way to recover and get back to the player I know I can be and I’ve shown that I’ve been before,” Garrett said.
The comments, reported by ESPN’s Sarah Barshop, marked Garrett’s most direct acknowledgment that a knee issue that limited him through training camp had affected his play. He declined to specify which knee was injured.
Garrett recorded no tackles, sacks or quarterback hits. It was only the fourth time in 135 career games he finished without a tackle and the first since Week 11 of the 2024 season.
Los Angeles entered the season as a Super Bowl favorite after acquiring Garrett from the Cleveland Browns on June 1 in a blockbuster trade that sent edge rusher Jared Verse and multiple draft picks to Cleveland.
Last season Garrett set the NFL single-season sack record with 23 while winning his second Defensive Player of the Year award. He entered 2026 with 125.5 career sacks, tied for 20th all time.
Rams coach Sean McVay had said Garrett would be ready for the opener and later indicated he believed the 30-year-old was at full health. Asked after the game whether Garrett was 100 percent, McVay said, “To my knowledge, yeah.”
Garrett offered a different assessment. He said he was more focused on protecting himself than disrupting the 49ers.
“When I was out there, I was a little bit more focused on myself and trying to stay healthy than what they were doing, and that showed,” Garrett said. “I wasn’t who I needed to be for my team.”
The Rams generated pressure on only seven of 36 dropbacks by Brock Purdy, a 19 percent rate and one of their lowest marks since last season. Purdy threw three touchdown passes as San Francisco pulled away after a 10-7 halftime lead.
A crowd of 100,021 filled the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the seventh-largest regular-season attendance in NFL history. The 49ers spent a week in Australia preparing. The Rams arrived roughly 28 hours before kickoff.
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who came out of retirement to join the Rams, did not travel and missed the game. The combination left Los Angeles without two of its most decorated defensive linemen operating at peak form.
Garrett missed most of training camp and the entire preseason while the Rams managed swelling in his knee. He returned to practice in the days before the trip and was listed as a full participant on the final injury report.
He said his immediate focus heading into Week 2 is recovery. The Rams host the New York Giants on Monday night, Sept. 21, giving him 10 days before his next game.
“I wasn’t the player that I wanted to be, and I feel like I wasn’t the player I’ve been before when I’ve stepped onto that field,” Garrett said.
The debut offered an early reminder that even elite pass rushers can be limited when they are not fully healthy. Garrett has produced at least 14 sacks in each of the past five seasons. The Rams are counting on that production as they chase a championship.
Whether the knee improves enough for him to resemble the player who terrorized quarterbacks in Cleveland will shape Los Angeles’ season as much as any other storyline.
