Myles Garrett Has Knee Surgery, Lands on IR

Los Angeles Rams outside linebacker Myles Garrett is undergoing knee surgery and will be placed on injured reserve, coach Sean McVay confirmed Monday, meaning the reigning Defensive Player of the Year will miss at least the next four games. McVay would not put a return timeline on the procedure until the Rams have more information on how the surgery goes.

Garrett dealt with knee swelling through most of training camp, then played only about 62 percent of the defensive snaps in Los Angeles' season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Australia. He finished without a tackle and called it "the worst version of myself that I put out there." Sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport the plan is arthroscopic surgery plus IR.

Four games locked, Week 6 the earliest

IR requires a minimum four-game absence. That knocks Garrett out of Week 2 against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football (Mon., Sept. 21), then Denver, Philadelphia, and Buffalo. He becomes eligible to return for Week 6 when the Rams host the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 18, but McVay stressed that eligibility is not a green light.

"You feel good about it, but I think it'd be unfair to him, or really just without having the totality of all the information, to put any sort of timeline on it," McVay said. "We know that he'll be available in four weeks potentially, and so we'll just take that a day at a time."

The Rams hoped he could manage the knee without an operation. After talking with Garrett postgame and watching how limited he looked, McVay said surgery became "the next right thing."

What Rams fans should watch

Los Angeles already leaned on depth around Garrett in camp. Now that depth has to cover a four-game floor with no ceiling announced. Fantasy and ticket buyers can lock the Giants MNF date and assume no Garrett until further notice. The sourced stamp is simple: knee surgery, IR, four games minimum, and a star edge who admitted he was thinking about staying healthy more than wrecking the 49ers' pocket.

Watch for the first post-op update from McVay later this week. Until then, treat Week 2 through Week 5 as Garrett-free and keep Oct. 18 on the calendar as the earliest possible roster return, not a promise.

Get healthy. Fix the knee. Then talk about sacks again.