Myles Garrett Says He Can Still Win Defensive Player of the Year as the Banged-Up Rams Head to Arizona

Myles Garrett has played two games for the Los Angeles Rams this season, and he believes that is plenty of time to chase down the league's top defensive honor. Asked on the Rich Eisen Show whether he can still win Defensive Player of the Year after missing seven games following knee surgery, the reigning winner did not hedge ^[1].

"There's nothing to stutter about," Garrett said, according to Newsweek ^[1].

That is the kind of answer a locker room feeds on, and these Rams need every ounce of it. Los Angeles is 5-4 and riding a three-game winning streak, but its receiver room has been gutted by injuries, and on Thursday the club reversed course on its most important pass catcher ^[2][3][4]. Sunday brings a trip to Arizona and a chance to avenge one of the season's most frustrating afternoons ^[2].

Garrett's Case

The numbers behind Garrett's confidence are real. He returned last weekend and piled up three sacks in the Rams' 20-13 win over Washington, which accounts for his entire total this season ^[1]. The league's sack leader, Will Anderson Jr., has 9.5, so Garrett has real ground to make up over the final eight games ^[1].

He has done harder things. Garrett, 31, arrived in Los Angeles this offseason in a trade from Cleveland as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, coming off an NFL-record 23 sacks in 2025 ^[1]. He also won the award in 2023, when he posted 14 sacks, 17 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles, and his 128.5 career sacks rank 27th in league history, according to Newsweek ^[1].

Whether voters will reward half a season is an open question. But a pass rusher who expects to dominate and says so plainly is exactly what a team leaning on its defense needs in November. Confidence is not the same thing as arrogance when the work backs it up, and Garrett's three-sack return was a pretty good receipt.

A Receiver Room Running on Fumes

The offense is the bigger worry. Puka Nacua is out with knee and toe injuries, and Davante Adams is sidelined with a hamstring injury ^[2]. Jordan Whittington went on injured reserve with a back injury, and the Rams signed receiver Xavier Smith off San Francisco's practice squad on Tuesday to add bodies ^[2].

On Wednesday, Newsweek reported that Nacua would stay on the active roster for roster reasons even though Sean McVay expected an extended absence ^[2]. A day later, the team changed course and placed Nacua on injured reserve, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Post reported, with the Post noting the switch came just one day after McVay's assurances ^[3][4]. For Adams, Newsweek reported that McVay considers a return around the Week 12 game against Green Bay to be realistic ^[2].

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McVay even floated a surprising fix. Robert Woods, 34, the former Rams receiver who signed a one-day contract in February to retire with Los Angeles and now works as the team's assistant receivers coach, has come up in conversations about a return ^[2]. McVay said the two had discussed it, though no roster move has been made ^[2].

"I've definitely been tempted," McVay told reporters ^[2].

There is something old-school about that idea. Whether or not Woods ever suits up again, the fact that his coach would even consider it says plenty about the respect he earned in that building. Quarterback Matthew Stafford, for his part, has said he trusts the receivers who are still standing ^[2].

The Road Ahead

The Rams do not have the luxury of waiting. The Los Angeles Times reported that the team stayed quiet at the trade deadline while division rivals San Francisco and Seattle made moves, with what the paper called the NFL's toughest schedule still in front of Los Angeles ^[5].

The first test is Sunday at 4:05 p.m. Eastern on CBS, when the Rams visit the Cardinals in a rematch of a Week 6 game Arizona won 18-16 ^[2]. Los Angeles managed just 286 total yards that day ^[2]. A win this time would send the Rams into their bye week with four straight victories and a little breathing room ^[2].

Here is the bottom line. Seasons are rarely decided by who is healthy in September. They are decided by who keeps showing up when the injury report gets long and the schedule gets mean. The Rams have a two-time Defensive Player of the Year who wants the ball back in his hands, a coach willing to get creative, and a quarterback who refuses to make excuses. That is not a bad place to start when the going gets hard.