Myles Garrett Hits IR With Knee Surgery — Rams D Left Thin for a Month
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year needs arthroscopic surgery and won't return until Week 6 at the earliest. Here's the fantasy fallout.
Knee surgery shelves him a month; stash in deep IDP, don't chase yet.
- Garrett to IR, out at least 4 weeks
- Week 1 stat line: 0 tackles, 0 sacks, 0 QB hits
- Rams D-line hit Purdy just twice, zero sacks
- Earliest return: Week 6
- Missed most of camp and preseason with knee inflammation
Myles Garrett, the NFL's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, is heading to injured reserve and will miss at least four weeks after opting for arthroscopic surgery on his troublesome left knee, per multiple reports. That's a hard landing for a defense that already looked lost in Australia — Garrett put up zero tackles, zero sacks and zero QB hits in his Rams debut, easily the quietest game of his career.
The knee isn't new. Garrett sat out most of training camp and the preseason with inflammation, then admitted after Week 1 that he was nowhere near 100% and that managing the pain took over from actually rushing the passer. He called it the worst version of himself he's ever put on the field. Surgery now means the Rams don't get their full front seven back until Week 6 at the earliest.
A Front That Vanished
Garrett wasn't the only problem. The entire defensive line — Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Poona Ford and Byron Young — barely registered, hitting Brock Purdy just twice and failing to record a single sack. Maybe it was jetlag from flying in the day before to stay on Pacific time. Maybe not. Either way, this wasn't the wrecking crew that talked Aaron Donald out of retirement.
Donald is the counterweight here. He didn't travel to Australia, instead ramping up for a Week 2 debut at SoFi on Monday Night Football. So the Rams should have enough bodies to survive a quarter of the season without their five-time All-Pro — but the dream Garrett-Donald pairing is now on hold until October.
The Fantasy Angle
For IDP managers, Garrett is a wait-and-see, not a panic sell. Four weeks is the floor, not the ceiling, and a surgically repaired knee on a pass rusher with camp-long inflammation is worth watching closely before you bank on a full return. If you have him, stash him; if you're streaming, look elsewhere until he's actually practicing.
The sneakier play is on the other sideline. Brock Purdy sits at our #81 overall and QB23, but he posted 179 PPR points across nine games in 2025 (20 pass TDs, 3 rush TDs) and has trended up — averaging +3.7 fantasy points over his last five versus his season mark. A Rams front missing Garrett makes any Purdy matchup more appealing. If he's on your bench or your wire, this is a fine week to give him a longer look.
