Rams’ Garrett says knee injury hurt his performance: ‘Worst version of myself’

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Myles Garrett finally acknowledged his knee injury is more serious than he had been letting on after his quiet debut for the Los Angeles Rams in their season-opening defeat in Australia.

The reigning AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year made zero tackles and no impact on the game during the Rams’ 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Friday.

Although Garrett missed much of training camp and the Rams’ recent weeks of practices to rest his knee, the superstar and the Rams had not floated the possibility he would be unable to play at his best when he began his 10th NFL season. Before his 15-hour flight back to LA, Garrett finally acknowledged he isn’t at 100% health.

“This was the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there, and I’ve got to be better,” Garrett said at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. “I’ve got to find a way to recover and get back to the player I know I can be and I’ve shown that I’ve been before.”

Garrett didn’t want to discuss details of his knee or his overall health after finishing without a tackle for only the fourth time in 135 career NFL games. He wouldn’t even say which knee is injured.

“I wasn’t the player that I wanted to be, and I feel like I wasn’t the player I’ve been before when I’ve stepped onto that field,” Garrett said. “I’ve got to do what I can to get back to that.”

Garrett missed only two games in his final five seasons with the Cleveland Browns, who traded him to Los Angeles in the summer.

Garrett’s ineffectiveness was just one problem for the Rams’ revamped defense, which added the NFL’s best pass rusher and top cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to a group that reached the NFC championship game last season.

Although McDuffie had a solid game in Melbourne, the overall day was a nightmare. Watson was beaten for a touchdown by Mike Evans, and nobody stepped up with a standout effort while the 49ers scored the game’s final 24 points.

But LA’s offense wasn’t any better, and the result was a 20-point defeat — the biggest taken by the Rams since November 2024.

The Rams are the first team to begin a season with the reigning NFL MVP and AP Defensive Player of the Year in their lineup, but Matthew Stafford wasn’t nearly up to last season’s standard. The 38-year-old quarterback went 15 of 25 for 155 yards and an interception, throwing no touchdown passes after throwing at least one in every regular-season game last year.

“‘Surprised’ is not the word,” Stafford said. “Disappointed in the way it worked out for us. Obviously, didn’t move the ball consistently enough, didn’t put enough points up on the board to give ourselves a chance to be in the game. Every game and every season is a new one. Go out there and find a way to clean things up, move forward and be better.”

There is a bright side for the defense: They’ll add a three-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year to their lineup soon, possibly even next Monday night when they host the New York Giants.

Aaron Donald stayed home from Australia after coming out of retirement just two weeks ago, but the 35-year-old star will soon be on the defensive line with Garrett.

That won’t make the long flight home any easier, but the season is too new for the Rams to be truly discouraged.

“We knew we were going to face some adversity this season,” Garrett said. “It’s game one. We’ve got to find if we are as resilient as we’re saying.”

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