LA Rams may not have Chris Garrett back in time for SNF

The LA Rams play the visiting Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football on September 12, 2021. That is currently 100 hours away. Why mention this? Well, it’s just around the corner now, and the team has two players under quarantine and on the reserve/COVID-19 list. The first is the backup offensive center, Coleman Shelton. The second is rookie sensation, outside linebacker Chris Garrett.

While there was not much expectation to see much of Garrett play in week one under normal circumstances, the likelihood of his showing up to face the Chicago Bears for the first game of the NFL season is fading fast. So what? Well, Chris Garrett has serious potential to be something special in the LA Rams defense, and he got awfully cozy playing on the right side of the defense, a role that is opposite veteran outside linebacker Leonard Floyd.

In all honesty, nobody truly knows how well Garrett, or for that matter how any rookie, will perform this season. But that’s not really the point, is it? Chris Garrett is like a Christmas present under the tree. Nobody knows what’s in there, but we all rush to open the package to find out what’s inside. That’s the same curiosity and intrigue that compels fans to wonder what Chris Garrett can deliver to the defense this year.

If and when Garrett does get his chance to play, he certainly has an opportunity to electrify the Rams’ defense. Was it simply the fact that he faced offensive linemen at 80 percent speed while he was playing at 100 percent speed? Or does he simply have gears in his pass rush that are too fast for a typical offensive tackle to handle?

Garrett flashed brilliance in the preseason. Now, curiosity is getting the best of us. We would love to see Chris Garrett line up in the LA Rams defense. But it appears that, due to his current status on the reserve list, that debut may need to wait another week or more.

The suspense is tough to take though. We all want to know what’s in the box. Is Chris Garrett simply going to fizzle out against NFL starters? Or did we get what we wanted, another diamond starter discovery by the LA Rams front office on day three of the NFL Draft?