Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay provided key injury updates on Wednesday ahead of the Week 9 matchup against the Washington Commanders. Two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett had his 21-day window open this week as he looks to return from knee surgery. Garrett hasn’t played since Week 1, but has a chance to play on Sunday.
“It’s exciting. It’s great to be able to get him back out there,” said McVay, via Blaine Grisak of Sports Illustrated. “He’ll probably take half the reps today. If you have 30 reps, he’ll take 15, and then we’ll see how he feels coming out of that. Hopefully, it’s just a little bit of an increase incrementally at a time.”
If Garrett does play on Sunday, he could be on a pitch count.
While the news is trending
positively for Garrett, the Rams received some bad news on starting cornerback Jaylen Watson. After dislocating his shoulder in Week 3, Watson reaggravated the injury in last week’s win over the Los Angeles Chargers and will now miss the rest of the season.
“The likelihood of it coming out and doing further damage to it is a very high probability. You could strap it, but it would restrict his movement,” said McVay. “Just some of the different things that we’ve received from our doctors, it’s the right thing to do by him, even though it sucks because he’s been such a bright spot for us.”
This could lead the Commanders to see a familiar face. Their 2023 first-round pick, Emmanuel Forbes. Los Angeles claimed Forbes off waivers after Washington moved on from him in 2024. Forbes has had an up-and-down tenure with the Rams, but has played well in limited snaps this season. Josh Wallace will replace Watson in the starting lineup, with Forbes moving into the No. 3 cornerback role.
LA’s other starting cornerback, Trent McDuffie, missed Wednesday’s practice with a back injury. It’s unclear whether he’s in danger of missing Sunday’s game against the Commanders.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Rams latest injury could lead to familiar face against Commanders
