Add The California Post on Google Myles Garrett did not hide from his performance. He did not blame the Rams’ travel schedule, the game plan or anything the 49ers did against him.
After failing to register even one tackle, let alone a sack, in the Rams’ brutal 27-7 loss to their bitter rivals, he blamed himself.
In the process, he sounded the alarm on a knee issue that has dogged him all summer, and that the Rams have spent just as long dancing around.
“This was the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there,” Garrett said after the season-opening loss. “I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to find a way to recover and to get back to the player I know I can be and that I’ve shown I’ve been before.”
It was brutally honest. It was also more than a little alarming.
The Rams did not make their massive offseason investment in Garrett to get just another capable defensive end. They acquired him to be a weekly game-wrecker, someone whose presence would force opponents to redraw their protection plans and whose explosiveness could transform an already talented defense into one of the NFL’s most intimidating units.
Garrett was on the field against San Francisco, but the dominant force the Rams believed they were adding was nowhere to be found. He rarely affected Brock Purdy, failed to consistently disrupt the 49ers’ running game and never imposed himself on the proceedings.
Not once did he look like the one-man force he’s been almost since he set foot in the NFL.
Turns out, there was a reason. And it centers on the knee that required considerable rest during training camp. What appeared to be careful management of a nagging issue now raises a more troubling question: How serious is this?
Asked whether his knee was painful, Garrett needed just one word.
The Rams left Australia with a loss. That answer might be the bigger concern.
Not the final score. Not the travel debate. Not even the defensive breakdowns that allowed the 49ers to drive 99 yards for the touchdown that essentially put the game away.
But if Garrett is playing through a knee problem serious enough to make him protect himself during games, the Rams have a much more complicated situation on their hands.
“I wasn’t the player I wanted to be,” Garrett said. “I didn’t feel like I was the player I’ve been before when I stepped onto that field. I got to do what I can to get back to that.”
Then came the most revealing admission of the night.
“When I was out there, I was a little bit more focused on myself, trying to stay healthy, not what they were doing,” Garrett said. “That showed. I wasn’t what I needed to be for me and my team.”
That is not what anyone expected Garrett to be thinking about in his Rams debut.
A healthy Garrett plays forward. He attacks. He overwhelms offensive tackles with his power, speed and almost preposterous athleticism. He does not cautiously negotiate each snap while monitoring how his body is responding.
The Rams did not acquire Garrett merely for his production. They brought him in for the ripple effect created by his presence. He was supposed to draw double teams, speed up quarterbacks and create opportunities for everyone around him. He was supposed to make life easier for Jared Verse, Kobie Turner and, eventually, Aaron Donald.
But for that equation to work, opponents have to fear Garrett.
On Thursday, the 49ers never appeared particularly concerned about him.
That raises a question the Rams may have to confront honestly: Did everyone underestimate how much Garrett lost by missing so much of training camp?
The natural assumption was that an elite player of Garrett’s caliber could manage a limited summer and simply flip the switch when the games began. Superstars are frequently afforded that benefit of the doubt. Their track record buys patience, and their natural ability allows them to operate under a different set of rules.
But even the greatest players need their bodies. They need practice repetitions, football conditioning and the confidence to turn themselves loose without wondering whether the next violent movement will trigger pain.
Garrett did not have that confidence Thursday. By his own admission, part of his attention was devoted to getting through the game healthy.
That hesitation, even if it lasts only a fraction of a second, can neutralize everything that makes him special.
There is also a difference between being medically cleared to play and being physically ready to dominate. Garrett may have been healthy enough to line up, but he clearly was not healthy enough to play like himself.
Garrett refused to blame the Rams’ decision to arrive in Australia so close to kickoff.
“We didn’t have much of an Australia experience,” he said. “We came in, had the plan that we executed. We just didn’t execute on the field.”
Nor did he second-guess Sean McVay or the organization.
“No, I don’t doubt the decision making of my coach or my organization,” Garrett said. “I think they did what was best for us. We didn’t execute on the field when we needed to.”
He did not credit the 49ers with unveiling some exotic plan to take him out of the game, either.
“I think they mix it up well,” Garrett said. “They weren’t doing anything specifically different. We just didn’t play our brand of ball.”
In some respects, that should be reassuring. Garrett believes the problem was not strategic and that San Francisco did not discover some previously unknown blueprint for neutralizing him.
On the other hand, his explanation circles everything back to his health.
One poor game after an abbreviated training camp does not mean Garrett has suddenly stopped being one of the NFL’s most destructive defensive players. He has earned more patience than that. Traveling halfway around the world for a season opener also created an unusual environment for everyone involved.
But the knee makes this more than a simple case of Week 1 rust. So does Garrett’s admission that he was trying to protect himself rather than fully engaging with what the 49ers were doing.
The Rams’ challenge now is figuring out whether Garrett can work himself into shape while playing or whether continuing to play him will prevent the knee from fully recovering. They cannot allow their urgency to justify the trade or immediately unleash their star-studded defense to override what Garrett’s body is telling them.
“Getting healthy,” Garrett said when asked what he needs to do. “That’s the main thing.”
Garrett spoke afterward about resilience and the need for the Rams’ leaders to set the tone.
“There’s a lot more on this team that can be done,” he said. “That starts with us as leaders.”
And later: “We knew we were going to face some adversity this season. It’s game one. We got to find if we are as resilient as we’re saying, as much as we’ve shown throughout the preseason. Just take it one game at a time.”
That is the proper perspective after one loss. The Rams have too much talent and too much season ahead of them to treat one night in Australia as a referendum on everything they have built.
But Garrett’s performance cannot simply be dismissed as one bad game, either.
The Rams traded for a force of nature. Thursday night, they got a player preoccupied with surviving the storm inside his own knee.
Until that changes, they have every reason to be concerned.
