Myles Garrett Cleared to Play in Rams Debut After Real Knee Scare
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year missed most of camp with knee swelling, but Sean McVay confirms he's ready to go in Melbourne.
Myles Garrett will make his Los Angeles Rams debut Thursday night in Melbourne after a real scare with knee swelling threatened to sideline him for the biggest opener of his career. The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year missed most of training camp and the preseason dealing with the issue, and didn't practice at all on Tuesday before the team's departure for Australia — a genuinely late red flag for a player the Rams gave up an enormous haul to acquire.
Useful next steps
The trade that brought Garrett to Los Angeles was one of the real blockbusters of the offseason: the Browns sent him west in exchange for defensive lineman Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-round pick. That kind of investment is exactly why a late-week knee scare mattered so much — head coach Sean McVay had to publicly confirm Garrett's status rather than let it linger into game week uncertainty. Analysts have called the deal one that instantly makes the Rams the league's most dangerous team on paper, pairing Garrett's pass rush with a roster already built around a Super Bowl-caliber offense, which only raises the real stakes attached to his health.
I think I'll be able to play off of some great teammates. We have a strong defense all around and they'll make it easy, even if I am a touch off of what I usually am.— Myles Garrett, on playing through the knee issue
Our take: McVay's own confirmation that Garrett is "ready to go" is about as strong a signal as a coach gives this close to kickoff, but Garrett's own hedge — acknowledging he might be "a touch off" — is a real, honest admission rather than the usual competitive bravado. A future Hall of Famer publicly bracing fans for a less-than-100% version of himself in his own team debut is a genuine subplot worth watching from the opening series. If Garrett looks anything close to the player who won Defensive Player of the Year, the trade cost becomes an afterthought fast; if the knee genuinely limits him early, Los Angeles will have to lean harder on its supporting pass-rushers than it planned to for at least the season's first few weeks. Either way, Thursday is the first real data point.
Garrett's path to Thursday's debut
Rams acquire Garrett from Cleveland for Jared Verse plus three future draft picks.
Knee swelling limits Garrett through most of training camp and the preseason.
Garrett misses Tuesday's practice before Australia, then is confirmed ready by McVay.
The stage itself adds to the weight of Garrett's debut. Thursday's game is the NFL's first-ever regular-season contest in Australia, played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of a crowd watching a genuinely new kind of NFL event. Garrett debuting for a new team, on a new continent, while still working back from a knee issue is a lot of firsts stacked into one night — exactly the kind of setup that makes his own "a touch off" caveat feel honest rather than like typical pregame hedging.
A real late scare resolves just in time for one of the sport's best defenders to debut on the league's biggest international stage yet.
Week 1 Prediction: Score, Spread & Player Prop
Rams -3.5 over the 49ers, per DraftKings' Week 1 line.
48.5 total points, one of the higher Week 1 numbers on the board given both rosters' firepower.
Myles Garrett Over 0.5 sacks (-130 range at most books), a reasonable number even accounting for a debut coming off a limited camp.
Odds referenced from DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM lines as of this week; lines move, always confirm current odds before betting.
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Sources: Yardbarker, NBC Sports