Myles Garrett is headed for arthroscopic knee surgery and injured reserve, a development that does more than remove one player from one game. It changes how the Rams’ next opponents have to build their plans, starting with the Bills in Week 5 and the Eagles in Week 4.
CBS Sports reported that Garrett will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his knee and is expected to miss a minimum of four games because of the IR move. Another report said the injury stems from ongoing lower-leg pain, and Garrett was already limited in the Rams’ Week 1 game against the 49ers because of a knee issue.
That matters immediately for Buffalo.
Garrett won’t be on the field when the Rams host the Bills, which takes pressure off Buffalo’s offense and, in particular, its tackles Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown. Without Garrett lining up across from them, the Bills do not have to spend the same amount of time worrying about one of the league’s most disruptive edge rushers collapsing the pocket from the outside.
The ripple effect reaches Philadelphia, too.
The Eagles had been preparing for a Week 4 trip to face the Rams with Garrett in mind. Now they no longer will be facing him when Los Angeles comes to town. One report said Philadelphia had been set to gameplan around slowing Garrett down after a season in which he broke the NFL record for sacks and won Defensive Player of the Year.
That is a different kind of adjustment than simply accounting for a player who might be limited. Garrett is not just a question mark for game day; he is out for at least four games, which means opponents can plan knowing he will not be available. For the Eagles, that shifts the focus away from Garrett and toward the rest of the Rams’ front, including Aaron Donald.
The change also affects how Philadelphia can approach the run game. With Garrett out, the Eagles are expected to lean more on outside runs and 12 personnel looks, using the edges rather than trying to attack a spot where Garrett would have been a major obstacle. The same logic applies to their protection plans: without Garrett on the field, they can devote more attention to Donald instead of splitting their attention between two elite threats.
For the Rams, the timeline is the real issue. Garrett will miss the next four games, and his first chance to return would come in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals. There is hope he will be ready once the four-week requirement is complete, but for now the Rams have to move through a stretch of games without a player who had missed only two games over the previous five seasons, playing in 83 of a possible 85.
That durability is part of what makes this update stand out. Garrett’s knee surgery is not just a short-term absence; it is a rare interruption for a player who has been available almost every week. For the Rams’ upcoming opponents, that means the scouting report changes from “how do we handle Garrett?” to “how do we take advantage of the fact that he is not there?”