The Los Angeles Rams came out flat against the San Francisco 49ers in their regular-season opener, and injury is now being added to insult following a 27-7 defeat overseas in Australia.
Superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett, whom the club traded for during the offseason, admitted after the loss that he was the “worst version” of himself due to injury.
Now that the dust has settled, there’s even more context on Garrett’s lingering knee issue, and it’s bad news for the Rams.
Below, we’ll discuss the latest Myles Garrett injury update and outline its potential impact on the Rams’ 2026 NFL season projections on PrizePicks.
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Myles Garrett Injury Update: How Long Will Garrett Be Out?
In a Sunday morning report, Tom Pelissero of The Ringer revealed that Garrett is undergoing arthroscopic surgery. That’ll place the future Hall of Fame man on injured reserve, causing a ripple effect for both the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and his team.
While on IR, Garrett will be forced to miss at least the next four L.A. games. They’re big-time matchups for the most part, too. Los Angeles faces the New York Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 2, then the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football in Week 3, the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4, and the Buffalo Bills on MNF in Week 5.
Garrett, who collected an NFL-record 23 sacks in his last campaign with the Cleveland Browns, played 40 defensive snaps against San Francisco. Despite that, he had a quiet outing and was credited with 5 pressures by NFL Pro and 3 by Pro Football Focus.
Considering the Rams gave up multiple high-quality NFL Draft picks and promising young DE Jared Verse to land Garrett, this can’t be viewed as anything other than scary.
There’s plenty of time for the 30-year-old to get healthy and turn his season around, but head coach Sean McVay and defensive coordinator Chris Shula will have to get creative without perhaps the best player in the sport.
Over on PrizePicks Team Picks, Garrett returns a 33.33x payout with a correct prediction of “Yes” for him to win MVP, as well as the same payout for Defensive Player of the Year.
Impact of Myles Garrett’s Absence on Rams’ Defense & Playoff Outlook
Down Garrett for the next month, the Rams still have some promising pieces on that side of the ball. The defense was solid to begin with before acquiring him, grading out as one of the better units in the NFL.
Per RBSDM, the Rams’ defense was seventh in EPA per play allowed (-0.069) and sixth in dropback EPA/play (-0.051) in 2025. Those ranks were deceiving, however, especially considering the shellacking the Seattle Seahawks put on them in the NFC title game.
General manager Les Snead went out and addressed the team’s biggest weakness by adding CBs Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson; Garrett was a luxury move. So is DT Aaron Donald entering the fold again by coming out of retirement.
With that said, things won’t be easy given an all-time player is out of the lineup. Los Angeles already struggled with him present in Week 1, allowing 49ers QB Brock Purdy to average 0.22 EPA/play and the Niners to log 0.14 EPA/play on the ground.
Look for more pressure to be placed on the shoulders of DL Braden Fiske, Poona Ford, and Kobie Turner, as well as fellow DE Byron Young.
Los Angeles to win 10+ games this season returns a 1.42x payout for “Yes” and a 2.27x payout for “No” on PrizePicks entering Sunday’s play. Here are its payouts for 11-15 regular-season victories:
The Rams are still the favorites to win Super Bowl LXI, holding a 6.66x payout for “Yes” and a 1.08x payout for “No.”
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Just one game into the season, the Rams have already been dealt a serious blow on the field and followed it up with more bad news off the field. Garrett being on the shelf for the next four games might not doom L.A.’s season, although it certainly makes things more challenging.
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