LOS ANGELES — Poona Ford let out a slight chuckle at the question posed to him about learning from new teammates Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett, addressing the new reality of playing and practicing alongside the pair of stars over a 17-game regular season that is set to begin next week in Australia.
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“My body don’t move like that, like theirs,” Ford, who is entering his second season with the Rams, told the Southern California News Group of Donald and Garrett joining the Super Bowl favorite for the 2026 season.
Is is hard not to dream of what could be with a defensive front that now includes Ford alongside the likes of Donald, Garrett, Braden Fiske, Kobie Turner and Byron Young?
“It’s kind of hard not to, but we still got to come together as a team and do everything as one,” Ford said.
The sacks could be aplenty for the Rams, who begin their season on Sept. 10 against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. Noise across the league since Donald announced he was ending his two-season retirement on Sunday – resetting his surefire Hall of Fame clock in the process – has been deafening about what the Rams could be. Donald, however, is taking things one day at a time, not practicing Monday and instead doing work inside the Rams’ Woodland Hills practice facility in what Rams coach Sean McVay called “part of the plan all along.”
The NFL granted the Rams a roster exemption through Sept. 11, a day after their season opener, allowing the Rams to carry Donald on their active roster without making a corresponding move. McVay referred to Donald’s return as a “day at a time,” not trying to force the 35-year-old three-time Defensive Player of the Year into action if he’s not ready quite yet.
“What’s great about Aaron is he wants to earn everything that he gets,” McVay said. “He and I talked about that yesterday, and we’ve been kind of talking about it, because what he does have is great appreciation for the guys that are in here that have really done a great job over the last few years. And so, that is to be determined and I think a lot of it is contingent upon how does he feel?”
McVay continued: “We haven’t even done 11-on-11 football with him yet. So, I think the first steps are let’s get him into some of those settings, see what that really looks like, and then he’ll kind of help lead and guide us in terms of what that looks like to maximize him in addition to the other guys in that room.”
Last week, in an interview with SCNG, inside linebacker Omar Speights called Donald’s then-potential return “shocking,” but not cause of his age. Speights said that for any NFL player, taking two seasons off, would be a difficult journey back to the field.
“Anybody, especially at this level, you take two years off – I mean, he still was like training like weight room stuff like that – but the amount of power and and different things that it take to go out on that field and speed of the game and stuff like that, I mean, for anybody, no matter the age, to go to take two years off and come back and play be able to be productive at this level, I think that’s pretty crazy,” Speights said.
Donald didn’t practice. But neither did Garrett, who missed his 14th practice since training camp began. Garrett has been dealing with soreness in his knee since training camp at Loyola Marymount, and did work with a trainer on the field during practice on Sunday while wearing a leg sleeve over his left leg.
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McVay said Garrett is “making good progress.”
“Like we’ve said, the goal all along has been Australia, and he’s doing a lot of stuff outside of what you guys see,” McVay said. “And I’m looking forward to getting him back out there.”
Tight end Terrance Ferguson and inside linebacker Grant Stuard didn’t practice Monday and worked off to the side with a trainer. Ferguson hasn’t practiced for three consecutive practice days. McVay said they were “erring on the side of caution” with both players suffering from soreness with three rest days planned from Tuesday through Thursday upcoming.
When it comes to wide receiver Puka Nacua, who has been out for most of the team’s preseason practices with a psoas issue following their joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys, he conducted position group drills for the second consecutive day, but did not participate in 11-on-11 drills.
Lost in the shuffle of Donald’s Sunday return and press conference, McVay addressed placing offensive linemen Keagen Trost (hamstring) and Justin Dedich (hand) on injured reserve, saying they were “not quite ready yet” and that he felt good about the backup quartet of David Quessenberry, Beaux Limmer, Dylan McMahon and Bill Murray filling in if necessary.
“Beaux Limmer … can really play all the spots on the inside, Dylan McMahon’s gotten a bunch of reps at center, and then Bill Murray came in and truly earned a roster spot,” McVay said.
TEAM CAPTAINS REVEALED
McVay revealed the 11 team captains (five on offense, five on defense and one on special teams) that players voted on for the 2026 season.
Offense: Matthew Stafford, Kyren Williams, Tyler Higbee, Coleman Shelton, Davante Adams
Defense: Kobie Turner, Myles Garrett, Nate Landman, Quentin Lake, Trent McDuffie
Special Teams: Joe Cardona
RAMS’ INITIAL PRACTICE SQUAD
After not one of the Rams’ roster cuts was claimed off waivers on Monday, the team announced its initial 17-man practice squad.
Headlining the group is preseason standout running back Dean Connors, who showed impressive athleticism in all three games, while the Rams were also able to keep seventh-round selection defensive lineman Tim Keenan III and cornerback Cam Lampkin in his third season with the team.
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Here’s the full list of Rams practice squad signings in alphabetical order:
S Nick Andersen, Wake Forest, rookie
WR Alex Bachman, Wake Forest, seventh year
OL Austin Blaske, North Carolina, rookie
P Jack Bouwmeester, Texas, rookie (International Practice Player Signing)
RB Dean Connors, Houston, rookie
CB Nyzier Fourqurean, Wisconsin, rookie
OL Blake Hance, Northwestern, eighth year
S Tanner Ingle, North Carolina State, fourth year
DL Tim Keenan III, Alabama, rookie
CB Cam Lampkin, Washington State, third year
DL Larrell Murchison, North Carolina State, seventh year
ILB Elias Neal, Marshall, third year
DL Bill Norton, Texas, second year
OLB Darryl Peterson III, Wisconsin, rookie
WR Brennan Presley, Oklahoma State, rookie
RB Jordan Waters, North Carolina State, second year
TE Dan Villari, Syracuse, rookie