Aaron Donald says game speed slower than expected in Rams return
The defensive tackle played 33 snaps in his first game back from a two-year retirement.
What to know
- Aaron Donald played his first game back from a two-year retirement in a Monday night Rams game, recording three tackles and one tackle for loss in 33 snaps.
- Donald said the game speed felt manageable and attributed early mistakes to needing to readjust his footwork and decision-making after time away.
- The Rams' plan to pair Donald with Myles Garrett remains on hold due to Garrett's knee injury.
Aaron Donald Rams defensive tackleLos Angeles Rams NFL team
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump postscomments
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Donald says adjustment period expected, compares to prior holdouts
Donald characterized his performance as typical of his returns to action, noting that similar adjustments were needed when he held out in 2017 and 2018. He emphasized the need to review film and refine his execution over coming games after two years away from competition.
“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 -
And THAT is valid. Honestly I go back to the 80’s as a fan, so yeah, old ass fan through all the shit years has me deeply dyed in blue and gold/yellow. Even when the Rams left, I didn’t become a Chargers or Raiders fan. We were once the laughing stock of the NFL. I’ll never forget that.
2 more of the top 3 · 8 posts in this stretch
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Least ready to go I've ever seen a backup QB. Freaking backup hockey goalies who haven't played a single minute all season are more ready to go when they finally get put into a game in the playoffs than Winston was. Forget knocking the rust off, he looked like all rust.
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TBF they assumed a player that had retired from the NFL for over 2 years and had only signed with a team 3 weeks prior to their game wouldn’t need to be double teamed. I can see the reasoning.
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Aaron Donald returns from two-year retirement in Rams game
Donald played his first game back after ending his retirement that began after the 2023 season. He recorded three tackles and one tackle for loss while playing 33 of the Rams' 58 defensive snaps. The crowd response when he was announced as the final defensive starter "kind of amped me up a little bit," according to Donald.
“The game really wasn't as fast as I thought. It was more of me calming myself down, overrunning stuff or just my feet not being in the ground how they supposed to be.”
— Aaron Donald -
first by NBC Sports, 2d ago
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What people are saying 5 voices from 1 site · best of 8 · verbatim
- Yesterday
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Nice, hope he enjoys the complimentary food afterwards. Wish him all the best, will he be provided with a nurse at home, to care of him?
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Im actually British and waiting for my dad to have a completely free operation right now!
- Sep 22
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Ya he looked washed. Like even for a backup QB washed. Looked like he lost some serious arm strength.
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Oh I’m painfully aware at how bad the current iteration of my team is. Your problem is you’re ignorant of how atrocious your team has always been since the beginning.
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Garrett didn’t get double teamed more than the average DT. 20% is very low for a DT, especially one that is supposed to soak up blockers.