The Los Angeles Rams built their 2026 defense around a pairing that, on paper, looked almost unfair. Aaron Donald came out of retirement. Myles Garrett arrived in a June trade from Cleveland. Together they were supposed to give Sean McVay the most disruptive interior and edge combination in the NFC.
That plan has not survived the first month. Garrett is on injured reserve after knee surgery. Donald, 35, has played only two games since signing a one-year, $20 million deal on Aug. 30. He has yet to record a sack in his return, and he will not get the chance Sunday in Philadelphia.
The absence lands in a week when the Rams otherwise expected some relief. Wide receiver Puka Nacua is set to play after missing two games with a hip injury. The defensive front, the part of the roster the club spent the offseason trying to fortify, will travel without its two headline pass rushers.
NFL reporter Ari Meirov posted the ruling Friday on X under the handle @MySportsUpdate.
“#Rams DT Aaron Donald has a back injury and is OUT on Sunday vs. the Eagles,” Meirov wrote.
McVay confirmed the decision in his Friday news conference before the team flew east. Donald had not practiced Wednesday or Thursday with back soreness, and he did not return to the field Friday, which is ordinarily a veteran rest day. After two missed workouts caused by injury rather than maintenance, his status became the central question on the injury report.
“He is as tough as it gets. Just not feeling good enough,” McVay said, via Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. “He would do it and he could probably go be productive, but part of our job is to protect these tough dudes like him from themselves.”
The coach had been more cautious earlier in the week. On Wednesday, after Donald first appeared on the report, McVay said the club was “just taking it a day at a time” and added, “I wouldn’t want to say anything of that nature yet. I think the back is a little bit sore. He’s as tough as it gets.”
The caution fits the way the Rams have handled the comeback. Donald sat out the season opener against San Francisco in Australia, then returned against the New York Giants and played again last week in Denver.
Through those two games he has four tackles, no sacks and three pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, which graded him 77.7 overall. Snap counts have been managed. He has played 68 snaps, about 36% of the team’s defensive total.
That is a long way from the player who finished his first career with 111 sacks in 156 regular-season games, three Defensive Player of the Year awards and a Super Bowl title. He has never recorded a sack against the Eagles, the team he will miss Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern on FOX. Philadelphia entered the week at 2-1.
Defensive coordinator Chris Shula had already framed the larger problem before Friday’s ruling.
“Obviously, those are two of the best players in the world, two of maybe the best players of all time. You’re always going to want them on the field,” Shula said of Donald and Garrett.
Without them, the interior load shifts toward Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Poona Ford and the rest of a rotation that has not produced the pressure the front office envisioned. Fiske is the player most likely to see a heavier share of snaps. The Rams’ pass rush has been thin all month with Garrett unavailable.
Donald is not the only Rams player ruled out. Tight end Terrance Ferguson (ankle) and cornerback Jaylen Watson (shoulder) will also miss the game, McVay said. Tight end Colby Parkinson (knee/shoulder) and linebacker Grant Stuard (groin) are questionable.
The Eagles have their own absences. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith has been out of practice with a hamstring injury and was not expected to play, and linebacker Zack Baun has been working through a concussion. Those holes do not replace the problem Los Angeles faces up front against an offense that still features Saquon Barkley.
Donald’s deal was built for a rotational return, not a full-season starter’s workload, and the back issue is the first real interruption of that plan. The Rams’ bye is not until Week 11. Their next home game, against Buffalo, is Oct. 12. Whether the soreness clears in time for that Monday night remains the next question McVay has not answered.
