Myles Garretts startling knee admission should raise alarms for Rams, fans
Myles Garrett did not hide from his performance.He did not blame the Rams’ travel schedule, the game plan or anything the 49ers did against him.After failing to register even one tackle, let alone a sack, in the Rams’ brutal 27-7 loss to their bitter rivals, he blamed himself.In the process, he sounded the alarm on a knee issue that has dogged him all summer, and that the Rams have spent just as long dancing around.“This was the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there,” Garrett said after the season-opening loss.
“I’ve got to be better.I’ve got to find a way to recover and to get back to the player I know I can be and that I’ve shown I’ve been before.”It was brutally honest.
It was also more than a little alarming.The Rams did not make their massive offseason investment in Garrett to get just another capable defensive end.They acquired him to be a weekly game-wrecker, someone whose presence would force opponents to redraw their protection plans and whose explosiveness could transform an already talented defense into one of the NFL’s most intimidating units.That player never arrived Thursday night.Garrett was on the field against San Francisco, but the dominant force the Rams believed they were adding was nowhere to be found.
He rarely affected Brock Purdy, failed to consistently disrupt the 49ers’ running game and never imposed himself on the proceedings.Not once did he look like the one-man force he’s been almost since he set foot in the NFL.Turns out, there was a reason.And it centers on the knee that required considerable rest during training camp.
What appeared to be careful management of a nagging issue now raises a more troubling question: How serious is this?Asked whether his knee was painful, Garrett needed just one word.“Yeah.”The Rams left Australia with a loss.That answer might be the bigger concern.Not the final score.
Not the travel debate.Not even the defensive breakdowns that allowed the 49ers to drive 99 ...