Myles Garrett’s Practice Return Gives the Rams Progress Without a Deadline
Archival and illustrative photograph: Myles Garrett at Cleveland Browns training camp on July 29, 2017. Photo by Erik Drost via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed CC BY 2.0. Shown in a full-frame presentation with neutral borders added by HuddleUp to preserve the complete original composition; no image content was removed. This archival photograph predates Garrett’s Rams tenure and does not depict his 2026 knee injury, surgery or return-to-practice process.
Event/update date: November 2, 2026
The Los Angeles Rams will bring Myles Garrett back to practice this week, a meaningful step that deliberately stops short of promising when he will return to a game.
Head coach Sean McVay announced on November 2 that the Rams will open Garrett’s 21-day practice window. The move gives Los Angeles three weeks to evaluate the edge rusher before deciding whether to activate him from injured reserve. It does not require an immediate activation, and McVay declined to set a one-week or multiweek timetable.
The practice window is a checkpoint, not a clearance
Garrett underwent knee surgery after the Rams’ Week 1 loss to San Francisco in Australia. The team placed him on injured reserve on September 17, and he has missed seven games. He became eligible to return in Week 6, but eligibility and readiness are different measurements.
The Rams’ official update described the next phase in functional terms: practice, observe the response and adjust. McVay said the club would take the process one day at a time. Reuters reported that he did not rule Garrett out for Sunday’s game at Washington, but not ruling out a game is not the same as predicting participation.
HuddleUp is not inferring a return date. The confirmed development is the opening of the practice window. Each subsequent workload and recovery response will provide information the calendar cannot.
Los Angeles has football reasons to be impatient
The Rams acquired Garrett from Cleveland in June in a major trade that sent Jared Verse and multiple draft selections to the Browns. Reuters reported that Garrett set the NFL single-season sack record with 23 in 2025 and has posted at least 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons.
Associated Press reporting noted that the Rams ranked 27th in sacks and sack rate during his absence. Aaron Donald returned from retirement in part because of the opportunity to play beside Garrett, yet the two have not shared a regular-season snap this year.
Those facts create understandable pressure. Los Angeles invested significant capital in a pass rusher expected to change the front, and the team reached the midpoint of the season without seeing that pairing. The Rams are 4-4 after winning two straight and are preparing for a Washington offense that must account for any change in the pass rush.
Analysis: The size of the investment is exactly why the return should not be rushed. The trade cost cannot be recovered by asking the player to meet an artificial deadline. The best way to protect the football investment is to let current medical and performance evidence determine the next step.
Practice will answer different questions than reputation
Garrett’s résumé explains what the Rams hope to regain, but it cannot answer how his knee will tolerate repeated work now. Practice can show whether he can accelerate, bend, anchor, change direction and recover between sessions. It can also reveal whether he is ready for a limited package before he is ready for a full workload.
The Rams have options between total absence and a complete return. Coaches can build a situational role, limit early-down snaps or use Garrett in specific pass-rush combinations. Those possibilities should follow the evidence from practice rather than become a public promise before he completes the work.
The same update covered other injured players, underscoring that return management is an organizational discipline. McVay said tight end Terrance Ferguson was likely to begin his own practice window, while cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie would be monitored after recent issues. Running back Dean Connors is expected to have surgery on a broken hand.
Progress deserves accuracy
Fans can reasonably treat Garrett’s return to practice as good news. The Rams can celebrate progress without converting it into certainty. That balance is important in injury coverage, where optimism is often repeated as if it were a medical conclusion.
The team’s public language leaves room for the player to respond differently from one day to the next. That is not indecision. It is a more honest form of decision-making when an elite athlete returns from surgery.
Los Angeles needs Garrett, and Garrett needs a return plan that is bigger than Sunday. The practice window allows both truths to coexist. The next meaningful update will come from how his body handles football work—not from how loudly the season demands him back.
Sources
- Los Angeles Rams: Sean McVay’s Week 9 injury update
- Reuters: Garrett to return to practice this week
- Associated Press: Garrett returns after seven-game absence
- NFL: November 2 league news roundup
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