WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Rams head coach Sean McVay on Tuesday said the team still does not plan to open outside linebacker Myles Garrett's 21-day practice window this week as they prepare to take on the Cardinals on Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Week 6.
When asked on Tuesday if the team will start Garrett's clock this week, head coach Sean McVay said "we will not, not this week."
Tuesday's comments echo what McVay said last Saturday, stating that Garrett would be unlikely to return to practice from Injured Reserve as early as he was eligible to do so. At that time, McVay said that Garrett is "making good progress, but what I will say is he's not ready to say whether we'll open that window or not." McVay also said on Saturday that "the surgery went really well," but "it's week-to-week in terms of how he feels."
Garrett has been on IR since Sept. 17 after undergoing knee surgery three days earlier.
"When I talk to (Executive Director of Medical Service/Senior Orthopedic Surgeon 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 last Saturday. "When you do something like this, let's put him in a good position to return to performance. Part of that will be once he gets to those benchmarks where he's hitting all the benchmarks that we want, then let's physically put him in a position to do things that are in alignment with playing football, see how the knee responds, which we expect it to respond well and then that's when you can really start talking about, 'Okay, he's going to play for us,' and things of that nature."
Additionally, in wake of offensive lineman Alaric Jackson's two-game suspension for an act of unsportsmanlike conduct following Monday's game against the Buffalo Bills, which McVay understands Jackson plans to appeal, offensive lineman David Quessenberry will start at left tackle. McVay also said the Rams will start offensive lineman Keagen Trost's 21-day clock and will expect him to return this week. Trost was placed on IR prior to the 53-man roster deadline on Aug. 30 with a hamstring injury sustained on the first field goal protection snap in their Aug. 15 preseason game against the Chiefs.
"DQ will take that spot, and then that'll also open up the opportunity for us to start Trost's clock with the expectation of him being back out there this week," McVay said.
Following Monday's game against the Bills, McVay said the Rams "came out pretty healthy" with some of the "typical bumps and bruises" and no additional mention of other players specifically.
