MELBOURNE, Australia — He might be the easiest player to spot – by size, and the wave of attention heading his way whenever he’s on the field.
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But during the Rams’ 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Friday (Thursday night PT) in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia, Myles Garrett disappeared into the background of a miserable start to the 2026 season at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Plainly put, the Rams played poorly – and Garrett ended the trip Down Under admittedly worse for wear.
Garrett, who didn’t record a tackle or a sack in a game played in front of 100,021 fans, said afterward that his knee was in pain.
All throughout training camp and the preseason, Garrett had more often than not been unavailable for practices, instead working off to the side with trainers and joining the team for walkthroughs while dealing with knee swelling. In the leadup to the opener, head coach Sean McVay said the Rams’ high-profile offseason acquisition was ready to go for the game.
“He’s going to be ready to go,” McVay said Tuesday in Woodland Hills. “He’s looked great.”
Garrett, in his first season with the Rams after nine in Cleveland, said the same Tuesday before the team flew to Melbourne and arrived in Australia on Thursday morning, a little more than 24 hours before kickoff.
The two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year’s tune changed when he sat at the podium on Friday afternoon after the defeat.
“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,” said Garrett, who added that health is at the forefront of his mind as the Rams turn their attention to the Sept. 21 home opener against the New York Giants. “I wasn’t who I needed to be for my team.”
49ers left tackle Trent Williams, who was tasked with blocking Garrett, told reporters he didn’t notice that Garrett was ailing during the game even though he was held without a tackle for only the fourth time in 135 career NFL games.
“I couldn’t tell,” Williams said. “He’s still really hard to block, so, no, I mean, he’s one of those players where it’s just, you know, no matter what he’s going through, it’s still not an easy out for anybody.”
Rams defensive lineman Kobie Turner said he didn’t speak with Garrett about his discomfort on the field, but he said whether it’s him or any teammate feeling “a little bit of something,” it’s up to them to help each other so the team can make plays.
“How can we just help each other out and be able to create some success?” Turner said.
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Garrett missed only two games in his final five seasons with the Browns, who traded him to the Rams this summer.
SPLITTING REPS
Not much went right for the Rams on offense in the opener.
But running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, along with third-string tailback Ronnie Rivers in garbage time, combined for 114 rushing yards. Williams and Corum combined for 21 carries. Williams played 34 snaps, while Corum logged just 12.
Williams, who has been the Rams’ starting running back each of the past three seasons, had 41 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Corum finished with 54 rushing yards on 10 carries for a better yards-per-carry average (5.4 yards).
Corum emerged last season as a serious threat to increased carries with his explosive athleticism. Keeping an eye on Corum’s usage in the weeks ahead could become a theme if he continues to produce on the ground at a higher rate than Williams.
BOUNCING BACK
When you’re the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl, dropping the season opener in blowout fashion is unexpected.
Speaking to reporters in the locker room after the game, safety Quentin Lake – who provided a small bright spot when he intercepted Brock Purdy with the Rams leading 7-3 in the second quarter – said the team needs to bounce back from the defeat and simply execute.
“There’s a lot of outside narratives in terms of this team and in terms of the talent that we have, but at the end of the day, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” said Lake, who also had a team-high 10 tackles. “And we have to continue to go back and whenever we get back (to Los Angeles) and go back to the drawing board and say, ‘Hey, what do we need to do? What do we need to do better?’ And take all those things and all the learning lessons of this game and continue to apply that to our next game.”
Quarterback Matthew Stafford said the Rams weren’t good enough on offense. He said they weren’t good enough communicating, operating or being on the same page.
The league’s reigning MVP said there were too many instances when he and his teammates were not on the same page.
“I felt like we were fighting ourselves a little bit today,” Stafford said. “Obviously not the way you want to start the season. But a lot of football left, opportunities with the right kind of people, right coaches. Go out there and fix it, move forward.”
Turner said the Rams have the right people inside their building to use the loss as momentum, adding that setbacks are setups for comebacks.
Garrett backed that sentiment during his post-game press conference.
“This isn’t a representation of who we are as a team, what we want to achieve, who we can be,” Garrett said. “We’ll be better.”
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