Myles Garrett returns to Rams’ lineup ahead of Sunday’s game against Washington

The Rams finally have their biggest offseason addition back on the field. Myles Garrett was activated from injured reserve Saturday, clearing the reigning Defensive Player of the Year to return Sunday against Washington after missing the last seven games with a knee injury.

That matters because Los Angeles has spent much of the season trying to replace his pressure without having anyone who can fully reproduce it. Garrett played only one game before the knee issue sent him to surgery and then to injured reserve, leaving the Rams to navigate a stretch in which their pass rush lagged behind the rest of the defense.

Garrett enters the matchup without a game designation, and coach Sean McVay said Friday that he was expected to play barring setbacks. That changed the week from uncertainty to availability, which is the most important update for a team that has been waiting since Week 1 to see whether its headline defender could return in time to matter in November.

His absence was not a minor one. Garrett has been sidelined since the opener, when he was limited enough that the knee problem carried into the next phase of his recovery and eventually forced an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee. The injury then pushed him onto injured reserve, and the Rams had to get through seven games without the player they acquired to anchor the front.

The timing also gives Los Angeles a chance to change the terms of the conversation around its defense. The Rams entered Week 9 ranked 17th in pressure rate and 27th in sack rate, numbers that reflect a unit that has not consistently turned disruption into finishing plays. Garrett does not solve that by himself, but he gives the line a proven edge presence and forces protection to account for him every snap he is on the field.

This return also restores a pairing that the Rams had been waiting to use. Garrett’s debut season in Los Angeles was always going to draw attention because of the trade that brought him there, but injuries kept the defense from building around him in the way the front office expected. Now, with Washington next on the schedule, the Rams get their first real look at what the pass rush can look like with Garrett available and not just on the roster.

There is still no guarantee the first game back will resemble a full workload, and the team did not need one to make the activation meaningful. The point of the move was simpler: get Garrett off injured reserve, clear him for Sunday, and stop treating his return as a projection. That box is checked.

What remains for Los Angeles is less abstract. The Rams have been underwhelming in the aggregate, but the defense now has its best chance yet to prove that the early-season numbers were at least partly a product of missing personnel. Garrett’s return does not erase the time he missed, but it does give the Rams a clearer path into the next phase of the season, starting against Washington.