The early returns on Los Angeles Rams defensive end Myles Garrett are in from his teammates.
“Not all men are created equal, that’s for sure,” Fiske said Thursday of Garrett.
“He’s a baller, no doubt. He’s getting a slide [in pass protection], there ain’t no doubt about that. Just trying to work off him or vice versa, just communicating.
“I think that’s the biggest thing right now, is just working on our communication of how to rush together, how we’re going to attack certain looks, and just, as all four, the certain looks that we’re going to get when he’s on the field, is just preparing for that, and doing our best to work off each other. It’s been good so far, though. I think we’re making strides.”
The four Fiske mentions are himself, Garrett, nose tackle Poona Ford, and edge rusher Byron Young. Young was the Rams’ leading pass rusher with 12 sacks in 2025; Fiske added three sacks, and Ford added two. Ford was one of the more disruptive players in the middle, with 47 total tackles and four tackles for loss; Fiske added 30 total tackles and four TFLs. Kobie Turner is the fifth man on the D-line, and racked up 48 tackles, nine TFLs, and seven sacks.
But Garrett was on a whole other level last season. He had 60 total tackles and a league-leading 33 tackles for loss; he set the NFL record for sacks in a single season with 23.
The Rams gave up their 2027 first-round pick, 2028 second-round pick, and 2029 third-round pick, along with edge rusher Jared Verse, to the Cleveland Browns to acquire Garrett. Fiske was Verse’s college teammate at Florida State, and the two were both drafted in 2024.
The Garrett trade was the centerpiece of a complete overhaul on the defensive side of the ball. L.A. also traded for Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie, and signed his opposite number in the Chiefs secondary, Jaylen Watson, in free agency. McDuffie and Watson join veteran safety Kam Curl, nickel corner Quentin Lake, and 2024 third-round pick safety Kamren Kinchens.
“It’s been awesome, just having that mindset up front of knowing who you have on the back end that’s covering you,” Fiske said of the secondary.
“I think just as we continue to marry our rush and coverage as we go forward, it’s just—continuing to build on that, and I think we’ve made great strides through this camp. There’s still a long way to go; we’ve still got some joint practices, and to get different looks—it gets a little tiring going against the same guys every day, but you’ve still got to build on what we’re doing. I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
Fiske said that the defense had done a good job of “stacking days together” in practice, and has competed well against the offense so far in training camp. While he emphasized that he needed to see the defense go up against another team before anyone could make a judgment about how good the unit is, he likes what he has seen so far.
“You always have to wait until you get that first competition, but you can tell,” he said.
“There’s little tells in camp of just the energy, the vibe guys bring and just the camaraderie that’s built through these days of camp, when you spend all day, every day with each other, around the dorms, just around the facilities, when we’re in this confined space. But it’s a special group. I can say that now for sure that we’re headed in the right direction. There’s still a lot of work, and there’s still a lot that we’ve got to do to continue to grow, but this group really is awesome, and I’m ready to just continue to build on that and just got to keep on working.”
