For the past nine days, Myles Garrett has been living every pass rusher’s fantasy.

Every time he walks into a meeting room at the Los Angeles Rams facility Aaron Donald is there. Whether it’s in the cafeteria, the weight room, or walking onto the field, two of the most decorated pass rushers of their generation can be overheard talking about how to attack a guard, hand placement, first-step, protections, or simply how they plan to terrorize quarterbacks together. 

Last Sunday, during his first official day back with the Rams, Donald was asked how much the team’s acquisition of Garrett in the offseason helped lure him out of retirement. 

“That was a huge part,” admitted Donald. “You bring a guy like Myles Garrett, a generational talent, and [I was] like, ‘That can be fun.’”

The fun is still yet to come, but Garrett called his first nine days with Donald so far “special.”

The pairing of two of the most dominant defensive players the league has ever seen is a cheat code on paper. Garrett attacking offenses on the edge while Donald destroys them from the interior. It’s enough to keep any opposing quarterback up at night, but it’s something the rest of the NFL will have to wait another week to see. 

Rams coach Sean McVay announced Donald will not travel with the team to Melbourne and will not play in Thursday’s season opener against the 49ers, delaying the highly anticipated debut of the most devastating pass-rush duo the league has ever seen. 

Garrett, however, is already getting a preview at practice. 

“He has his own way of doing things, physically as well as mentally,” Garrett said of Donald. “He speaks the game, and being able to work off of him is truly a special thing.”

Donald has 111 career sacks despite spending his career fighting through double teams from the interior. Garrett has 125.5 and arrives in Los Angeles as the NFL’s single-season record holder, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and the player his peers just voted No. 1 in the NFL Top 100.

Neither needs a tutorial on rushing the passer. Instead, they are comparing notes.

That should be the terrifying part for everyone else.

When asked by the California Post on what he’s discovered in these first nine days of being teammates with Donald that he didn’t already know and doesn’t appear on the back of a football card he surprised everyone with his answer. 

“He smiles more than I thought,” Garrett joked. “You see him on the field, and he doesn’t look like he smiles ever. But, yeah, he has a good sense of humor.”

What has impressed Garrett most, though, is Donald’s standing inside the building.

“I do have a lot of respect for him, just how much respect he’s garnered from the staff and all the players here,” Garrett said. “That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned — how well he works not only with myself, but also with everyone.”

Donald will remain home this week while Garrett makes his Rams debut in the Land Down Under. 

Garrett acknowledged everything has moved quickly since joining the Rams and that he has not had much time to process it. His solution is simple: Once the ball is snapped, make everything else slow down.

“I hope to just slow it down on the field and do what I do,” he said.

The Rams have carefully managed Garrett during the preseason, but he dismissed any concern that limited practice time will prevent him from looking like himself against San Francisco.

The Post asked Garrett if he has any individual goals for his debut season with the Rams and his answer was unmistakable:

“The Super Bowl,” he said with a grin. “And win DPOY again.” 

“I think there’s a whole bunch of opportunities out there for us as a D-line to be something truly special,” Garrett said. “I just want us to be able to realize that and never go into the locker room after a game feeling like we could have achieved more, done more.”

For now, Donald and Garrett remain the most frightening defensive partnership the NFL hasn’t actually seen yet.

But inside the Rams’ facility, the experiment has already begun.

Two future Hall of Fame pass rushers are walking the halls, comparing notes and plotting together.

Donald is even smiling.

Opposing quarterbacks probably won’t be.

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