NFL Week 9: Garrett Is Back, Watson Is Out – What It Means for the Rams

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents NFL Week 9: Garrett Is Back, Watson Is Out – What It Means for the Rams.

On November 8, 2026, The Guardian updated its early NFL Week 9 selection. The biggest headline is also a personnel update: Myles Garrett is returning to the Rams’ defense. The Rams face the Commanders and quarterback Jayden Daniels — and The Guardian’s liveblog puts the matchup in the spotlight.

If you want to follow the game, the situation is clear: the Rams are getting back a player who, according to the source, can occupy and disrupt large parts of the opposing offense when at full strength. At the same time, they will be without another defensive player in Jaylen Watson for the rest of the season. Two personnel updates shift the defensive outlook in opposite directions.

As Week 9 approaches, the focus is not only on results but, above all, on which players are available. According to the liveblog, the Commanders face an additional hurdle in their matchup with a Garrett returning to the lineup. Meanwhile, the Cowboys are missing the two named players, Pickens and Porter.

Garrett’s return changes expectations for the Rams

The key update

The Guardian calls Garrett’s return "the major injury update." He will be used by the Rams on defense and, according to the source, has returned to full strength. In that passage, the liveblog explicitly frames his potential impact as an expectation: with Garrett at full capacity, the Commanders and Jayden Daniels could face an even tougher challenge.

This wording is important. The liveblog does not provide a finished result at this point, but a clear expectation. Garrett is viewed here as a particularly impactful defensive end who can sustainably alter the opposing offense. That makes the game interesting for Rams fans without turning it into a guaranteed Commanders defeat.

For you as a viewer, that means watching more than just the Rams’ offense. The source explicitly places Garrett’s inclusion at the center of the headlines, describing his defensive presence as a key factor for Week 9.

Jaylen Watson’s absence hits the Rams’ defense

The opposite update from the Rams’ roster

Garrett’s return is not the only relevant personnel update. The Guardian also reports that the Rams have lost Jaylen Watson for the rest of the season. The source cites a shoulder injury as the reason.

The Rams’ defensive news therefore consists of two parts: Garrett is back, while Watson is out for the long term. It is precisely this combination that makes the upcoming block of games interesting. A single returning player does not automatically erase the effects of a long-term injury. For that reason, the liveblog also offers no reliable projection of how the two players compare with one another.

According to the source, the challenge facing the Commanders and Jayden Daniels is primarily made harder by Garrett’s presence. However, the available information does not substantiate what a potentially stronger Rams offense would mean for Daniels specifically. What is certain is: the Rams’ roster at game time is distributed differently than it was before Watson’s injury.

The Cowboys are missing Pickens and Porter

Additional absences at wide receiver and cornerback

Another item in the liveblog concerns the Cowboys. According to The Guardian, they are missing wide receiver George Pickens and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. The update therefore concerns not only injuries on the offensive side but also the defense.

In the provided excerpt, the source gives no details about the nature of these two absences, an expected return or whether either player will miss the game. It would therefore be irresponsible to infer a specific impact on individual passes, separation or the pace of a game. For now, the only reliable conclusion is: Pickens and Porter are unavailable to the Cowboys’ roster at this stage.

How to read the Week 9 updates

The Guardian’s liveblog brings together the early Week 9 slate from 6 p.m. GMT. It is therefore a running event report. The available excerpt focuses on personnel situations and expectations; no final game results are given.

Interpret Garrett’s status correctly

His return alone makes him a central point of interest for the matchup with the Commanders. The phrase "could have a very unpleasant afternoon" is deliberately open-ended: it describes a possible challenge for the Commanders and Daniels but does not guarantee a result.

Do not downplay Watson’s injury

With Watson, the time frame is unambiguous. According to the liveblog, he will be absent for the entire remainder of the season because of a shoulder injury. The update therefore amounts to more than a question mark for a single game day.

Do not confuse Daniels with the result

Jayden Daniels is mentioned in connection with Garrett’s potential impact. That is the liveblog’s framing, not a statistic or a substantiated projection of Daniels’ performance.

Take Pickens’ role into account

The Cowboys must approach Week 9 without their star wide receiver. The available liveblog excerpt does not reveal how the team will adjust its offensive lineup.

Do not treat Porter and Pickens as equivalent

Porter is absent on defense. Both absences affect the Cowboys, but they belong to different areas of the team and should not be treated as a single absence.

Understand the timing

The updates begin from 6 p.m. GMT. Because a liveblog changes continuously, it is worth checking the original to see the latest status of the updates.

Read the separate updates separately

The matchups between the Chiefs and Jets, Rams and Commanders, and Broncos and Panthers make up the early selection explicitly named in the headline. The information about Pickens and Porter is introduced as coming "elsewhere" and should therefore be read separately.

Do not infer game scores from expectations

Garrett’s return and the Cowboys’ absences change the personnel questions. How the games actually turn out cannot be predicted reliably from that information.

Keep track of the liveblog’s status

Details can change during a game day, particularly when it comes to injury updates. The latest entry in the original is authoritative for the final status.

Recognize the personal relevance

If you are only following the Rams against the Commanders, Garrett is the central factor. With the Cowboys, two separate absences are of interest: a wide receiver and a cornerback.

Our conclusion: Week 9 will be shaped above all by Myles Garrett’s return, while the Cowboys already have to plan without George Pickens and Joey Porter Jr. For the Rams, Jaylen Watson’s long-term absence remains the counterweight to Garrett’s return. You can find more details and later updates in The Guardian’s liveblog.