Sean McVay never about the injury, saying the goal all along was to get him 100% healthy for Week 1. In the coach’s mind, they accomplished that. But in Garrett’s opinion, he wasn’t fully healthy for the start of the season.
The two gave conflicting reports of Garrett’s health after . Each held a press conference after the game, and they don’t seem to be on the same page when it comes to the condition of Garrett’s knee.
After the game, Garrett was asked if he felt 100% healthy going into the game against San Francisco.
“No. I mean, this was the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there," he said. "I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to find a way to recover and get back to the player I know I can be and I’ve shown that I’ve been before.”
Before Garrett addressed the media, McVay was asked if his star edge rusher is 100%.
“To my knowledge, yeah,” he said.
Garrett was on the injury report to start the week, missing Tuesday’s practice with that lingering knee issue. He was then a full participant, which is probably why McVay thinks he’s healthy.
Garrett knows his body better than anyone else, so if he says he isn’t 100%, he isn’t fully healthy. He expanded on his knee a little bit, saying that his goal moving forward is to get back to 100%.
He admits to protecting his health instead of playing freely against the 49ers.
“Getting healthy. That’s the main thing,” he said. “When I was out there, I was a little bit more focused on myself and trying to stay healthy than what they were doing, and that showed. I wasn’t who I needed to be for my team.”
The Rams have a long break before their next game, which comes on Monday, Sept. 21 at home against the Giants. That gives Garrett more than a week before he has to take the field again, and hopefully his knee will heal in that time.
The player we saw on the field Thursday night was not the player Garrett usually is, failing to record a single tackle, sack or quarterback hit. The Rams need him to be much better than he was against the 49ers if they’re going to accomplish all that they hope to in 2026.
It’s just somewhat concerning that after more than a month, his knee still isn’t back to 100%.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire:
