Rams OLB Chris Garrett

Does anyone else wonder what happened to this guy?

He flashed stud abilities in the preseason and then got the Covid bug.

Rookie OLB Chris Garrett didn't get one snap during the regular season?


It didn’t help that he began the year on the reserve/COVID-19 list, missing the first game of the season before being activated on Sept. 22. But he’s still only played just four defensive snaps and six on special teams, being active for only one game: Week 3 against the Bucs.

He’s been a healthy scratch three times, even with Justin Hollins being out for an extended period of time. It’s somewhat surprising, but McVay had an explanation for reporters Friday when asked about Garrett.

“Seeing progress with him. It’s unfortunate because he was a guy that I thought made so much progress throughout the course of the preseason, and you could really see the influence and the effect that he had on the game, specifically just rushing the quarterback,” McVay said. “And you guys hear me say it all the time, repetition is the mother of learning.

He’s a young player that has a lot of upside, but he’s still continuing to learn. And that COVID got him pretty good. He’s recovering, he’s getting back to where he’s getting comfortable and he’s really maximizing his practice opportunities.

He’s done a great job in a lot of the look team settings, giving those offensive linemen and tight ends some really challenging looks. He’s getting better and he’s making our team better.

Whether or not he ends up being active, there are a lot of things that go into that: our personnel groupings that we’re activating, what’s his contribution in the kicking game, all those types of things. He’s a guy that we still have a lot of confidence in, but that COVID did set him back a little bit.

We’re still very optimistic about what he can bring to our football team and whether it’s this week or at some point this year, we’re going to need him.”
[theramswire.usatoday.com]