Garrett Ready for Rams Week 1 Debut

Myles Garrett is ready for his first snap in Rams blue. Sean McVay said Tuesday that Garrett (knee) will be "ready to go" for Los Angeles' Week 1 debut against the San Francisco 49ers at Melbourne Cricket Ground, while Aaron Donald will not play and will not travel to Australia, per Rams.com.

Kickoff is Thursday around 5:35 p.m. PT (Friday morning in Melbourne) on Netflix, the first regular-season NFL game Down Under. That is the board: new edge star in, future Hall of Famer sitting the opener.

Garrett cleared, Donald parked for Australia

McVay called Garrett's camp load smart and said the former Browns star has "looked great," with a big vibe impact on the room and the kind of teammate presence the Rams chased when they brought him west. The debut is live after a careful ramp that kept the knee quiet through the summer and still got him ready for night one.

Donald is a different timeline. Coming back from a two-year retirement, he has been on the practice field and said Monday he felt "pretty damn good," a note that already lived in our Donald feeling good writeup. McVay still chose the long view: no Week 1 snap, no Australia trip, and a bet that Donald will be "ready to go sooner rather than later" once the turnaround is not this compressed. McVay even chuckled that Donald "didn't look rusty," then still protected the two-year layoff.

Interior stays busy while the edge debuts

McVay named the group he trusts while Donald sits: Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Poona Ford, Tyler Davis, and Ty Hamilton. That front still has to deal with a 49ers offense on the other side of the ball in a building that has never hosted a regular-season NFL kickoff. Los Angeles opens with its prized free-agent edge hunting Matthew Stafford's old NFC West rival under Australian lights.

Fantasy and betting boards should treat Garrett as active for the Melbourne kickoff unless something flips before walkthrough. Donald is a sit until McVay says otherwise. The story for Rams fans is simple. The new pass rusher gets the first-game spotlight. The returning legend waits for a healthier window. Australia gets Garrett vs the Niners, and Los Angeles opens 2026 with its edge ready to hunt.

Donald came back Aug. 30 after retiring in March 2024. He did individual work that day and did not hit 11-on-11 until Sept. 6, per ESPN. A 16-hour flight into the first Australia regular-season game was never the soft landing for a 35-year-old still finding game shape. McVay chose the long view. Garrett's first snaps in horn colors are the short-term plan. Turner, Fiske, and Ford have to eat the middle until Donald's debut window opens, with the next realistic home look at SoFi against the Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 2 if the ramp sticks.