The Los Angeles Rams confirmed on Thursday that superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett has been placed on injured reserve, a move that will sideline one of the league’s most productive pass rushers for at least the next four games.
The decision follows arthroscopic knee surgery performed to address a problem that first surfaced in early August and never fully resolved as training camp and the preseason unfolded.
Garrett, now 30, arrived in the NFL as the Browns’ first-round selection in 2017 and quickly established himself as a disruptive force off the edge.
Over the years, Cleveland invested heavily in keeping him, first with a four-year extension that carried $30.4 million in fully guaranteed money and later with a record-setting four-year deal worth $160 million that included $123.5 million guaranteed.
Under the reworked terms, he was slated to average more than $40 million annually. Those contract details now belong to a different chapter; the Rams are the team that must navigate the immediate absence.
Last season Garrett still played every game for Cleveland, finishing with 60 tackles, 33 tackles for loss, 23 sacks, three forced fumbles and a pass breakup.
Those numbers illustrate both his durability and his ability to wreck opposing backfields.
Losing that production for a month, even if the Rams hoped the procedure would be relatively minor, creates a clear hole in a defense that counted on his presence from the first snap of the regular season.
Injured-reserve designation is not a season-ending sentence, but it does impose a hard four-game minimum. The Rams will have to rely on the rest of their linebacker and edge group to generate pressure while Garrett begins the rehabilitation process.
How quickly the knee responds after arthroscopic work will determine whether he returns at the earliest possible date or needs additional time. For now, the organization has chosen the conservative roster path rather than risk further setbacks.
The timing is inconvenient. September is when teams are still settling into their identities, and an elite pass rusher disappearing from the depth chart forces schematic adjustments and extra snaps for players who were expected to be complementary pieces.
Opposing offenses will notice the change and may attack the Rams’ edge with more confidence until Garrett is cleared to play again.
Further updates on his recovery timeline are expected once the initial post-surgical period has passed.
Until then, the Rams must find ways to replace the disruption that defined Garrett’s game for nearly a decade.
