Aaron Donald came out of retirement in August to chase another title with the Los Angeles Rams. Six games into the season, the Rams are 2-4, and on Thursday the 35-year-old was asked whether his team is stunned by the start. “What you mean stunned?” he asked back. “Nobody want to be two and four, but that’s what we is right now.”
He said the answer is the next game, not the standings. “The best thing about this game is you got this week, right? Every week’s the first week, a new week to go out there, execute, trying to find a way to win a game against a good team on the road,” Donald said. “It’s a lot of football left. What, 11 games left? That’s a lot of ball, man. A lot of ball. So, nothing to worry about. Ain’t panicking about nothing. Just got to go out there and play it.”
The Rams play the 3-3 Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, October 25, at 1:25 p.m. PT (23:25 Cairo).
“Is it a sense of urgency? For sure”
Donald did not dismiss the pressure. “You can’t curl up and think it’s over. It’s not over,” he said. “I think it’s nothing to panic about. Is it a sense of urgency? For sure, because we want to win. But as far as curling up and panicking like it’s the end of the world, it’s not that. We got a lot of games left. So we kind of control how we want the season to go.”
Asked what has to change, he kept it simple: “Just got to keep playing ball, find a way to win, be more consistent. On defense, eliminate explosive plays. We got to play better as a team. We got to find ways to finish games.” On getting more sacks, he said: “Just keep hunting. Rush better as a group at times.”
With defensive linemen Kobie Turner on injured reserve and Poona Ford out for the season, Donald was asked whether his snaps would go up. “I’m going to just be out there playing. However that rotation is going to be is going to be,” he said. “If it’s 30 plays, 40 plays, 50 plays, 60 plays, that’s what it’s going to be.”
He also pushed back on the idea that he has stayed quiet since his return. “With me saying that, that’s not me saying I’m not a leader. I’m still leading,” he said. “Probably my little words is a little different than what Kobie and them guys were saying, but still the same goal.” Of Myles Garrett, who is rehabbing, he said: “He’s in the meeting rooms and stuff like that. He’s still around the building. So just waiting for him to get back.”
Donald was also asked about a play in the last game in which he appeared to roll into a handstand behind the line of scrimmage. “I fell. I was trying to roll backwards. I got stuck on my head,” he said, laughing. “I don’t want to mess my neck up, man. I’m like 35, you know. So I kind of got stuck on my head. I was worried a little bit.”
Shula on Turner, Ford and Tyler Davis
Defensive coordinator Chris Shula called Turner “one of the hardest playing guys I’ve ever been around” and “the lead dog” in the line’s communication. “It’s a huge loss,” he said. “He’s going to be around, he’s around in practice, around in the room, but obviously it’s a huge loss on the field for us.”
Shula said the Ford news hit harder because the staff had hoped for better after his MRI. “It’s a 50/50 shot. We heard, and so you were just praying that it wasn’t anything and that he was going to be back,” he said. “He’s never had a serious injury. He’s been such a staple for us, such a consistent player. He doesn’t like taking vet days off. He practices on Fridays.”
Tyler Davis now has a bigger role. “He’s one of the kind of quiet leaders on that D-line. He’s a great communicator just like Kobie was,” Shula said. “Obviously he’s going to be playing a few more. He’s definitely ready for it.” On how far Donald’s snaps could stretch, Shula said the team has “a general kind of snap count” for him. “I don’t think we would go crazily past that, but it’s going to be hard if it’s a tight game and he’s at that number,” he said. “Just kind of like one of those pitchers in the ninth inning, you’re probably going to leave him in for a few extra snaps.”
“It’s like hitting a home run”
Shula was asked about the peanut punch, the move that knocks the ball loose from behind. “You never sacrifice the tackle for the punch. That’s kind of the number one thing,” he said. He remembered showing Charles Tillman videos to his players “12 years ago when I was defensive coordinator at John Carroll,” when “you didn’t see anybody else doing it.”
Now the Rams track it. “Every single week, we chart the fumbles around the league,” Shula said. He said the peanut punch has become “the number one thing that’s causing fumbles,” apart from hits on the quarterback. “It doesn’t matter the ball security of the offensive guy, how good it is. If you have the perfect punch, it’s like hitting a home run. It’s coming out.” He named linebacker Nate Landman as “our leader in the clubhouse at doing it” and said it is “a skill that can be developed,” though not by everyone.
Looking at Las Vegas, Shula said Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak is “one of the best in the league at matching the offense to the personnel and the skill sets that they have,” pointing to tight end Brock Bowers and the Raiders’ backs.
Scheelhaase: “You can’t replace Davante”
Offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase said the Rams wasted chances last week after crossing midfield. “We felt like we were driving the ball downfield and we weren’t able to capitalize,” he said. “Ultimately, we got to do a better job once we cross the 50 of finding a way to get the ball in the end zone.” He called execution “the umbrella that everything fits underneath,” adding: “You can have a good 10-play drive but end up off the field on a fourth-and-one, and it ultimately is all for naught.”
With Davante Adams on injured reserve, he said the red-zone load will be shared. “You can’t replace Davante with just one person going in there and making those same plays,” he said, naming Tutu Atwell and Jordan Whittington among the receivers who have “been in crunch-time moments for us even this year.” Of Adams, he said: “It’s tough to cover somebody that’s that big, that can jump that high, that has that much twitch at the line of scrimmage. He just knows he’s going to make plays.”
Scheelhaase said he had heard Matthew Stafford and Adams talking about the quarterback carrying more while players are hurt. “There’s a lot on his shoulders,” he said, adding that Stafford “wears that burden well.” Asked how the Rams keep the mood steady after two straight losses, he pointed to the locker room: “On the outside, I’m sure there is reason to feel, ah man, worrisome, panicked. You got players on the inside that feel like they can figure out, problem solve and get back to work.”
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