McVay: Garrett Practice Window Stays Closed Week 6

Myles Garrett is eligible. He is not ready. Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay said Tuesday the team will not open the outside linebacker's 21-day practice window this week as the Rams prepare to host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

Asked if the club would start Garrett's clock in Week 6, McVay said, "we will not, not this week." That matches what he floated Saturday, when he called Garrett unlikely to return to practice as early as he was first eligible after knee surgery.

Return to play vs return to performance

Garrett has been on injured reserve since Sept. 17 after undergoing knee surgery three days earlier. The initial timeline after the scope was roughly six weeks. Four weeks are already on the books, so a window opened next week could still put him near that original target, per NBC Sports.

McVay keeps drawing a line between simply being cleared and actually looking like Myles Garrett again. "When I talk to (Doctor) Neal ElAttrache, and I think it's a great way to articulate it, there's a difference between return to play and return to performance," McVay said Saturday. He wants Garrett hitting every benchmark before the Rams put football stress back on the knee.

"The surgery went really well," McVay added then, "but it's week-to-week in terms of how he feels." Tuesday's update means Week 6 at home against Arizona will not be the debut chapter.

Other line news

With Alaric Jackson facing a two-game suspension after Monday's game against the Buffalo Bills (an appeal is planned), David Quessenberry will start at left tackle. McVay also said the Rams will start Keagen Trost's 21-day clock with the expectation he returns this week. Trost has been on IR since a preseason hamstring injury in August.

McVay said the Rams "came out pretty healthy" from the Bills game aside from the usual bumps. The big absence remains the one everyone is waiting on: Garrett's first practice snap in a Rams uniform since the surgery.

Cardinals week without the closer

Sunday at SoFi is another home date without the pass rusher Los Angeles acquired to wreck pocket integrity on early downs and third-and-long. Fantasy managers and Rams fans get the same message. Do not pencil Garrett in for Week 6. Watch next week's practice report, trust the medical timeline, and hope the next update is about opening the window instead of keeping it shut.