Aaron Donald returned to the field for the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night following a retirement, recording three tackles and playing 33 snaps in a 28-6 win over the Giants after sitting out the team’s international opener in Australia.
SoFi Stadium delivered a high-voltage welcome when Aaron Donald ran out of the tunnel as the final defensive starter announced to the home crowd. Donald said the response from that crowd kind of amped me up a little bit
as he ran onto the field for the first time since deciding to end the retirement that started after the 2023 season.
That initial roar provided an immediate jolt. He described the challenge as more about calming himself down, avoiding overrunning plays, and trusting his footing rather than struggling with the raw speed of the NFL.
Ramping Up After a Two-Year Absence
Returning to action required a deliberate ramp-up period for the 35-year-old veteran. Donald did not travel to Australia for the opener and took more time to ramp himself up for his return to game action. Donald did not travel with the Rams to Melbourne, Australia, for their international clash against the San Francisco 49ers, missing the Week 1 opener because team leadership and head coach Sean McVay agreed the quick turnaround after two years away from the game demanded a more cautious approach.
“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. … He’s attacked this the right way, but it would have been a really quick turnaround.”
Sean McVay, Rams Coach, via Yahoo
Snap Count and Performance Analysis Against the Giants
In his first game action back, Donald logged 33 of the team’s 58 defensive snaps in Monday night’s 28-6 win over the Giants. He finished the night with three tackles and a tackle for loss, showing flashes of the dominance that earned him three Defensive Player of the Year awards.
“It was more of me calming myself down, overrunning stuff or just my feet not being in the ground how they supposed to be, not trusting my eyes, little stuff like that. But playing the game, when I held out in ’17, ’18 it was the same way when I came back, it took a couple games to get going. It’s a little different. I ain’t played in two years, so I gotta watch the film, see what I did good, see what I did wrong, and just clean it up.”
Aaron Donald, Rams Defensive Tackle, via Nbcsports
Donald also noted room for improvement in his pass rush execution, mentioning that he would like to win a little faster
when he’s blocked one-on-one and that he feels like everything will feel more natural with a little more playing time under his belt.
Future Outlook for the Rams Defensive Line
While the plan was for the Rams to team Donald with Myles Garrett, that tandem remains on hold.
