Rams reveal status of Aaron Donald, Myles Garrett for Week 1 vs. 49ers in Australia

The NFL season kicks off in Australia this week with the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers playing in Melbourne. Holding a regular-season game down under has been a fascinating logistical challenge for both teams, with the 49ers and a handful of Rams players making the trip early to get acclimated — while the majority of Sean McVay’s team will head down with almost no time to prepare.

Inside of that are the two biggest figures looming over this game, both on the Rams’ defensive line. Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald are teaming up to try and win the Super Bowl this year, and here’s their statuses for the Australia game.

Myles Garrett

The Rams chose to hold out Myles Garrett for much of training camp and preseason while he dealt with swelling in his left knee. That appears to be clearing up now, with Garrett practicing on Sunday in preparation for the game. Sean McVay said he’s playing against the 49ers in Week 1.

There are lingering questions about how ready Garrett will be to play. The cloud around his status could be gamesmanship, or true concern over the knee and not wanting to risk any aggravation of the swelling.

Videos have shown Garrett in Australia working out, and he looks to be moving completely fine, including in the viral video of him working out with a rugby coach to improve his hitting and make it even more violent.

It appears as though we won’t get an update until Wednesday at the earliest.

Aaron Donald

The return of Aaron Donald has been one of the most staggering stories this offseason, with the retired legend forgoing his Hall of Fame eligibility to make another run with the Rams. Donald passed his physicals, is in great shape, and seemingly looks like he’s ready to go — but the team made the announcement on Tuesday that Donald will not play or travel in the Australia game.

There is no injury issue with Donald, more that he’s just not quite ready to be thrust into a full NFL training schedule, which makes sense. It’s also a lot of pressure to ask a retired player to fly halfway around the world and take the field on a short leadup, which undoubtably played a role here as well.

The decision to make Donald inactive could serve as a hint as to what the team has planned with Garrett. While the Rams could certainly play without either of their two defensive stars, it seems likely that Donald being inactive could mean that Garrett will be active.

We’ll wait to learn more as the week progresses.