Donald's Back Injury Puts the Rams' Defensive Dream on Hold Again

Myles Garrett is on injured reserve. Aaron Donald is listed as questionable with a back issue. The partnership the Rams spent the offseason building — two of the most feared pass rushers of their generation, sharing a defensive line — has yet to happen in any meaningful sense, and right now there is no clear date when it will.

Garrett missed four practices during training camp with lower-body soreness before eventually landing on IR. Donald, who came out of retirement to join him, is now dealing with his own availability question. The injury report has them both compromised at the same time, which is about as clean a summary of this defense's luck as you are going to find.

The frustrating part is that the idea was sound. Donald spent the better part of a decade as the most disruptive interior force in the league before stepping away. Garrett has been the premier edge rusher in football for several years running. On paper, offensive lines could not account for both of them. In practice, the Rams have not had a healthy version of either man for any sustained stretch this season, let alone both at once.

Braden Fiske has been the one consistent presence up front — five sacks in 2025, a real contributor — but he is not the gravitational force that changes how an offense prepares. The Rams need Donald functional and Garrett back from IR before this defensive line becomes what it was supposed to be. Neither of those things is settled right now.