The Rams aren’t hitting the green light on Myles Garrett’s return to practice this week, which means the superstar defensive end will officially miss the Week 6 game against the Cardinals. This decision pushes back the highly anticipated comeback for the 2025 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, who has been sidelined since Week 1.
Return to Performance, Not Just Play
Garrett landed on injured reserve after Week 1 following knee surgery, and while he’s been eligible to return to practice after Week 5, that’s not happening just yet. Rams coach Sean McVay dropped the update on Saturday, confirming the team isn’t planning to open his practice window. “He’s making good progress, but what I will say is he’s not ready to say whether we’ll open that window or not,” McVay told reporters, adding it’s “more likely that we do not start his clock next week.” The coach emphasized a philosophy shared by Neal ElAttrache: there’s a big difference between just “return to play” and actually achieving “return to performance.” The Rams want to make sure Garrett is truly ready to dominate again. That means hitting all the right benchmarks, getting into football-related activities, and seeing how the knee handles it all, which they expect to go well.
The Alien’s Accelerated Comeback?
Interestingly, McVay also touched on Garrett’s lack of practice time in training camp. Apparently, that was all about trying to manage an irritation in the knee. Now that the issue is surgically “fixed” and Garrett is “feeling so good,” McVay believes the process for “the alien” to get back up to speed will be “accelerated.” It turns out Garrett tried to play through the knee issue against the 49ers in Australia before realizing it was serious enough for surgery. The whole point of the quick decision was to get the 2025 NFL Defensive Player of the Year back to doing what he does best. So, while we wait a little longer, the Rams are confident that once he’s back, he’ll be the game-wrecker everyone expects.
Missing the Cardinals game means Garrett will have been out for five straight. After that Week 6 matchup, the Rams are looking at a stretch that includes the Raiders, back-to-back games against the Chargers, then the Commanders, and another clash with the Cardinals before their Week 11 bye. The team is clearly thinking big picture, focusing on Garrett being at his absolute best when he does finally hit the field.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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