The Rams Traded a Fan Favorite and a First-Rounder for Myles Garrett. He's Now on Injured Reserve.

The most consequential Rams story of the week isn't the 27-7 loss in Melbourne — it's what happened 48 hours later.

On Sunday, Sept. 13, Los Angeles placed star edge rusher Myles Garrett on injured reserve so he could undergo arthroscopic knee surgery. He'll miss at least four games. For a team that spent the entire offseason acting like a Super Bowl was a formality, it's the first real crack in the foundation.

The Debut Nobody Saw Coming

Garrett's Rams tenure began with a statistical void: zero tackles. Zero sacks. Zero pressures. Against a 49ers offense quarterbacked by Mac Jones, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year was effectively invisible, and he knew it.

"This was the worst version of myself that I've put out there," Garrett said afterward. "I've got to find a way to recover and get back to the player I know I can be."

In hindsight, the warning signs were there all summer. Garrett had been managing knee swelling and had only fully participated in practice twice during camp. He returned to practice in early September, but the team never got him to a place where he could be the player it traded for.

The Price Tag Makes This Sting

This wasn't a low-risk flyer. In June, Los Angeles sent Cleveland edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-rounder, and a 2029 third-rounder for Garrett. Verse was a young, ascending pass rusher and a fan favorite — the kind of player teams usually regret moving. That's the trade that made the Rams the offseason's loudest story, and it's the trade fans are now second-guessing.

Compounding it: Aaron Donald, who came out of retirement in late August to pair with Garrett on the interior, was ruled out of the opener. The "new Dodgers" defensive front that Sean McVay's roster was built around has yet to take a single meaningful snap together.

What the Rams Actually Have Up Front

The math on the edge is thin. Josaiah Stewart now inherits a much larger role than anyone anticipated, and the depth chart reflects it — he sits atop the right outside linebacker spot.

That's not a disaster, but it's a real drop-off. The Rams allowed 27 points and 379 yards in Week 1, ranking 19th in the league in points allowed per game. Their pass rush generated no meaningful pressure, and the 49ers' ability to stay ahead of the chains kept Matthew Stafford's offense on the sideline. Los Angeles finished with 290 total yards — 168 through the air.

Garrett's absence doesn't just remove a pass rusher. It changes how opponents can block the Rams. Without a player who demands a double-team on every snap, protection schemes get simpler, and the secondary — which the Rams invested in heavily this offseason — gets asked to cover longer.

The Schedule Isn't Waiting

The timing is unforgiving. The Rams host the Giants in Week 2, then travel to Denver and Philadelphia before hosting Buffalo in Week 5. Those are four offenses capable of punishing a defense missing its best disrupter. If Garrett's four-game minimum stretches longer, the Rams could be digging out of a significant hole in a division where San Francisco, Seattle, and Arizona all opened with wins.

There's still plenty of season left, and the roster is genuinely talented. But the margin on "Super Bowl or bust" just got thinner. Los Angeles bet its future on Garrett being the difference. For the next month, it has to prove that bet was about more than one player.