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LOS ANGELES -- Myles Garrett trotted out of the Los Angeles Rams facility and onto the green grass for his first practice in nearly two months, and Byron Young couldn't contain himself.
"Get your cameras ready!" Young shouted. "I'm so happy to see this."
Garrett spent the beginning of Thursday's practice chatting and trading jokes with Aaron Donald, who ended a two-year retirement this summer in part for a moment like the one coming. After a career of double-teams, he wanted to share a defensive line with another multi-time Defensive Player of the Year. Whenever that time would come, the Rams would feature the first defensive line in NFL history with two players with at least 100 career sacks and a 20-sack season under their belt.
This was the delayed euphoria, expanding like a balloon that was ready to burst. Not only have the Rams waited months since a blockbuster trade to see the real version of their two-time Defensive Player of the Year in a game-week setting, but they also needed a reprieve from the avalanche that continues to fall on their heads.
Garrett's status for Sunday against the Washington Commanders remains to be seen, but his return to practice came in a week filled with more injury chaos. On the day Los Angeles decided to start the practice window for Garrett, who has missed seven straight games after knee surgery, the team placed cornerback Jaylen Watson on season-ending injured reserve with a shoulder injury. That means the Rams won't play a snap this season with the four acquisitions they brought in to level up the defense -- Garrett, Donald, Watson and two-time All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie -- on the field at the same time.
McDuffie himself is fighting to get back on the field after he injured his back in Sunday's 24-9 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. He's missed two practices this week in the attempt to heal.
The roller coaster of emotions on one side of the ball contains a conundrum as Week 9 approaches for this 4-4 team:
The Rams' defense has a chance to be special, but it also has to overcome so much to be so.
"I've been the coach for 10 years, and I know '22 was a season that we had a lot of injuries, particularly at the offensive line," coach Sean McVay said, "but this has been more than any year, including '22, with the amount of guys out at different spots that are key and critical to your identities."
The Rams have to overcome the loss of Watson, whose nine pass deflections, erasures with press-man coverage and stout run defense have set a new tone for a secondary that badly needed one after last season's playoff slide. They will look to Josh Wallace and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. for help, and both could wind up playing on the perimeter if McDuffie misses more time. Enough is up in the air that the Rams added eighth-year veteran David Long Jr. to the practice squad for insurance.
They also have to continue to absorb the losses of nose tackle Poona Ford and defensive end Kobie Turner. Ford is out for the season, and the replacement tandem of Ty Hamilton and Tyler Davis helped shut down the Las Vegas Raiders and Chargers for 112 combined rushing yards on 2.7 yards per carry the past two weeks. The run defense has improved over the past two weeks, in part because the Rams faced struggling run games and in part because of the rise of linebacker Omar Speights.
But Garrett can provide an antidote to so many of the concerns if he can get back to form. He plays in the edge spot Turner does on base downs, where he can set a similar edge with his 272-pound frame. Turner has to miss the next two games while on injured reserve with a groin injury.
But it's when the Rams force teams into throwing the ball that Garrett will make up the most ground. He joins a team tied for 26th in the NFL with 12 sacks. Just one year ago, Los Angeles finished tied for seventh in the league with 47 sacks. That same season, with the Cleveland Browns, Garrett had 23 on his lonesome for the most in a season in NFL history.
Garrett's injury created a double blow to the pass rush, as the Rams sent Jared Verse to the Browns to get him. Verse finished last season with 7 1/2 sacks and led the team with a 17.5 percent pressure rate, according to Sports Info Solutions. Garrett was here to supercharge his role of commanding double-teams and chip blocks while collapsing the blind side of the pocket to chase quarterbacks to the right, where Byron Young could chase them down with his speed.
Young leads the Rams this season with 4 1/2 sacks and a 14.7 percent pressure rate, but he's trying to get back to and then exceed last season's totals of 12 sacks and a 15.5 percent pressure rate, which landed him in his first Pro Bowl.
"We were doing a get-off (in practice), and I was like, 'Boy, I've missed that,'" Young said. "I feel like we've been getting good pressure, but we're not getting the quarterback down. That happened a few games ago, and that's something we don't live by. We live by getting after the quarterback and getting him down and finishing games.
"Having him be back, I'm looking for that to help us along the way. All of the attention he's going to cause by getting to the QB, I'm looking forward to it."
But the biggest beneficiary of a healthy Garrett would be Donald. After all, the prospect of rushing as a secondary option in the eyes of opposing offensive lines is what became so enticing about a comeback. That has largely disappeared with Josaiah Stewart in Garrett's place, but the math dilemma can return on offensive lines trying to divvy up resources on the same side of the line Garrett and Donald play on.
"He's looking good, looking fast," Donald said of Garrett. "(We're) getting to work with him in full pads and playing off each other. It looked pretty good today, so I'm excited about having him here, having him back, and seeing what we do Sunday."
And if that comes together, the Rams have a way to ease the burden on their outside cornerbacks. They have reason to be optimistic about Wallace, given the surge he's shown in his third season. He's playing outside more than ever, and he's allowed just six of 20 passes against him to be completed for a total of 77 yards and no touchdowns, according to SIS. Only one cornerback in the NFL has allowed less than his 3.9 yards per coverage snap allowed on at least 20 targets, and that's his teammate McDuffie at 3.3.
The Rams will likely dial up their use of zone looks without Watson's press-man presence. That can allow the secondary to play downhill and with eyes on the quarterback. Safety Quentin Lake is tied for second in the league with three interceptions, and McDuffie is one behind him with two despite two missed games. But the real boost could come to free safety Kam Kinchens, who had six interceptions across his first two seasons but has yet to get his hands on one this season.
The path is there for the Rams to rise from a high-floor defense to an impactful one. They rank No. 5 in the league in yards allowed and No. 12 in points but are in the bottom 10 in sacks and takeaways. That's where having Garrett, Donald and McDuffie playing together for the first time could pay dividends -- so long as Garrett and McDuffie are healthy.
That's why the building has a swirl of emotions right now.