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Myles Garrett and the Los Angeles Rams walked away from Thursday’s season opener with more questions than answers. The Rams fell 27-7 to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL’s Melbourne Game, and their prized offseason addition on defense finished the night without a single tackle.
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Garrett arrived in Los Angeles as the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time winner of the award brought in to transform the Rams’ pass rush right away. Instead, his debut ended early, and the fallout is becoming clear just days into the regular season.
The next month now hinges on how quickly Los Angeles can adjust without him. The Rams built their defensive identity around Garrett anchoring the line, and his absence changes that equation before the team even gets through September.
According to NFL Reporter Tom Pelissero, Garrett is expected to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery and land on injured reserve.
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Rams star Myles Garrett will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his ailing knee and is headed to injured reserve, sources tell @ringer@netflixsports.
Garrett has been dealing with lower-leg pain and wasn’t himself in Thursday’s opener. The hope is he’s back in four weeks. pic.twitter.com/naTKJDV06R
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 13, 2026
That timeline would keep him out for at least four games, against the New York Giants, Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills, with a return targeted for Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals.
Garrett takes a heavy résumé into the recovery process.
Across 134 regular-season games, he has racked up 412 tackles, 125.5 sacks, 613 pressures and 23 forced fumbles, numbers that helped him win Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and 2025 and made him just the ninth player in NFL history to win the award more than once.
Read more Reports: Rams’ Myles Garrett headed to IR, to have knee surgery
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This story was originally published September 13, 2026 at 9:04 AM.