The Cleveland Browns will get their 2026 campaign started on Sunday afternoon, but you can bet the team and their fans were tuning in on Thursday night to see how their former standout pass rusher, Myles Garrett, fared with his new team, the Los Angeles Rams. In a surprise twist, Garrett was relatively ineffective in his first game with the Rams, as they suffered a 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Throughout the summer, Garrett had been battling a knee injury, but all signs pointed to him being healthy for this game. As it turns out, this ailment was causing him more problems than initially expected, as Garrett was placed on injured reserve Sunday morning after it was announced that he would be undergoing surgery to clean up his knee.
Myles Garrett Placed on Injured Reserve, Set to Undergo Arthroscopic Surgery
The Browns shocked the world this offseason when they traded Garrett to the Rams in the wake of his historic 2025 campaign. The last time we saw Garrett on the field before Thursday night, he broke the NFL’s single-season sack record with 23 quarterback takedowns for Cleveland. After years of trade rumors, though, the front office finally decided to ship him to another team.
In his debut for L.A., though, Garrett was practically invisible. He failed to record a single stat of note, and he was seen on the sidelines during key points of the game for the Rams. The initial belief was that his stamina simply wasn’t up to par, but it appears his aforementioned knee injury was causing him more trouble than believed.
The season is still very young, so the Rams opted to nip Garrett’s injury issues in the bud by placing him on injured reserve, meaning he will miss at least the team’s next four games of action. Garrett will be undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his knee, which usually carries a four-to-six-week recovery timeline, depending on how invasive the procedure ends up being.
“Rams star Myles Garrett will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his ailing knee and is headed to injured reserve, sources tell Ringer and Netflix Sports,” Tom Pelissero reported in a post on X. “Garrett has been dealing with lower-leg pain and wasn’t himself in Thursday’s opener. The hope is he’s back in four weeks.”
Browns Emerge as Early Winner in Myles Garrett Trade
You never want to see a player go down with injury, especially when it’s a guy like Garrett, who gave so much to Cleveland during his time in town. From a pure value standpoint, though, the Browns are an early winner in this trade. Garrett could return and change that narrative, but a stint on injured reserve this early on into his tenure with the Rams isn’t exactly a good thing.
If all goes according to plan, Garrett will only need to miss four games, meaning he could return to the field in Week 6. Los Angeles still has so much talent along its defensive line that it should be able to get by without Garrett, but its defense is already at less than 100% very early into the season. As for the Browns, they will look to pick up an upset victory in Week 1 when they take the field against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Myles Garrett Gets Dealt Brutal Injury Update After Browns Trade