Rams’ Aaron Donald ‘Feels Good’

(News4usonline) – Aaron Donald feels good. That’s all you need to know about how the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year is progressing after unretiring and returning to the team. That might be bad news for Brock Purdy, the San Francisco 49ers and the rest of the NFC West Division. 

“It’s been good. It’s better than what I thought it would be, honestly,” Donald said. “Things are clicking a little faster. I’m feeling good, knocking the rust off. I thought I’d be a lot more rusty than I was, but taking it day by day. It feels good to be back around the guys, in the building, on the grass, playing football so things are clicking. I’m feeling good, just keep going.” 

Donald going up against the 49ers will have to keep, though,  until the next time the two teams are scheduled to play later in the schedule. Fortunately for Purdy and unfortunately for the Rams and their fans, Donald is skipping the trip to Australia.

“He won’t play in this game,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “”He’s doing a great job. I think he’ll be ready to go sooner rather than later, but we’re making a decision that we think is best for him and for our team.” 

The Rams and the 49ers help kick off a full slate of NFL games in Week 1 with their Thursday Night Football matchup. All eyes were set to be focused on Donald and his defensive buddies. That won’t be the case against the 49ers. 

But the Rams still have plenty of prowess on defense, even with Donald absent. Not only does McVay have Donald again on his defense, Los Angeles added Myles Garrett, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, in the offseason. 

The Rams also picked up all-world cornerback Trent McDuffie and his former Kansas City Chiefs teammate in Jaylen Watson. With Donald now back in the mix, the Rams defense can be viewed as the equivalent to the Avengers, Marvel’s mythical band of superheroes. 

Leading the charge against opposing offenses, of course, is Donald, who was seen as an unstoppable force on defense. After 10 seasons, Donald retired in the spring of 2024. He’s missed two seasons. Now that he has unretired, Donald is going to be at the center of attention for opposing offenses.

Since coming back, Donald has been asked about his stamina and whether or not he feels rusty or would be ready to go against the 49ers. To that end, Donald dismissed the idea that he’s not ready.  

“I’m feeling really good. I’m feeling great,” Donald remarked after a recent practice.  Coming up with a game plan and will see what’s going on, but I’m telling you, I feel great.” 

The daunting challenge, of course, came in the form of a 16-hour flight to play the 49ers. Even though he looks impressive, a 16-hour flight for a player who hasn’t played competitively for two years, no matter how great the athlete is, could be a lot to ask for. 

“I think what’s cool is you have such confidence in the group that we do have with [DE] Kobie [Turner], with [DE Braden] Fiske, with [NT] Poona Ford, with [DE] Tyler Davis. Ty Hamilton has done a really good job,” McVay said. “He’s going to be a big part. It’ll add value when he’s ready to go, but being two years off retirement, he’s attacked this the right way. But it would have been a really quick turnaround.”  

The day before McVay spoke to reporters, Donald sounded really enthusiastic about being on the playing field again.

“I’m feeling good, feeling really good,” Donald said. “Going to come up with a game plan and see. But honestly, I really do feel good. Like I said, things are clicking faster than what I thought it would be. Even with my first day out there with 11-on-11, I thought things would be a little all over the place, but I settled in.” 

While there is a rush of excitement about Donald being part of the team again, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula wants to pull back a little on that excitement. 

“We have a lot of different thoughts, but we truly are taking it day-by-day,” said Shula.  “We’ll have a plan for him going into the game, but we want to see how it goes today with him. We want to see how it goes tomorrow. Then, we truly believe by the time we get to Australia, we’ll have a plan for this game and figure out the rest of that.” 

A challenge for Shula this season is meshing the immense talents of Donald alongside Garrett, a newcomer to the Rams defense. Aside from their mega-stars, Shula also has Turner and Fiske to use at his disposal on the defensive line.  Shula says it is a dilemma he welcomes as he tries to balance it all.

“It’s a challenge I’ll take anytime,” Shula said. “No, we’re taking it day-by-day and we’re just trying to get him acclimated to the defense. At the end of the day, football is football. I know it’s been about two years, but we expect him to hit the ground running and we’ll see what happens.”  

Donald doesn’t want to make any waves. His goal is to do whatever the team needs him to do.  

“Whatever my role is, I’m going to go out there and play at a high level, do my part,” Donald said. “It’s a team sport. That’s the best thing about it. I don’t have to worry about playing 70, 60 snaps when you have a group like this. There’s no pressure on me. I can just go out there, play free, play ball. Let the game come to me, play with the guys around me. Help them, they help me. Hopefully we have a lot of success this season.”