LOS ANGELES — Aaron Donald’s presence isn’t just being felt on the Rams as he begins his second week back with the franchise where he won a Super Bowl and claimed three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Read more Shohei Ohtani returns to lineup as Dodgers’ win streak reaches 5 games
The 35-year-old future Hall of Famer is also the biggest presence and noise generator off the field, across the league and on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, since deciding to return from his two-year retirement.
“I prepared for (Donald’s return) the right way, and it is what it is,” San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters in Melbourne, Australia. “He’s a hell of a player and we’ll have our work cut out for (us).”
Will Donald play when the Rams kick off their season on Friday morning (Thursday, 5:35 p.m. PT) in Australia?
That’s still to be decided.
“I’m feeling good,” Donald said Monday when asked if he will play in the opener. “We’re going day by day, coming up with a game plan and seeing what’s going on, but feeling good. Feeling really good.”
When asked if he’s traveling to Australia, Donald repeated the sentiment.
“Feeling good, feeling really good,” Donald said.
Can Donald say for certain if he’s making the trip?
“I’m feeling really good,” Donald said, again. “Feeling great. Coming up with a game plan and seeing what’s going on, but I’m telling you, I feel great.”
Donald didn’t practice on Monday afternoon and worked inside the facility in what he said was a recovery day with a cardio workout and that he would be “back out on the grass” on Tuesday.
Coach Sean McVay said Donald and star edge rusher Myles Garrett took part in practice on Sunday. That Sunday practice was Donald’s return to 11-on-11 drills, Donald said, knocking the rust off in an attempt to return to the pace of live-game action – or at least the closest thing to it without lining up against another team.
“Even with my first day out there with 11-on-11 (drills), I thought, things would be a little all over the place, but (I) settled in,” Donald said. “A couple plays were a little rusty. I ain’t where I want to be, but it’s pretty damn good, if you ask me. Not playing football in two years, to be moving how I’m moving, it’s, like I said, it’s really no drop-off. It’s not where I want to be because I can see it and I know there’s things I want to clean up and I’m going to clean up.”
Fellow defensive lineman Kobie Turner noticed Donald’s rust disappearing with each rep.
“He comes out, fresh off of two years sitting on the couch and is just working and looking more and more like himself,” Turner told the Southern California News Group. “If that’s rusty – a lot of people would like to have that. It would be as good as it gets for them.”
Read more UCLA football ready to take ‘next stride forward’ after season opener
Turner added: “I would have thought it would be a whole lot more difficult (to return) than he made it look yesterday. Obviously, it’s a day of practice, but you very clearly see like, yeah, he’s still got it.”
Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula spoke Monday as well and deferred to McVay – who was not planned to speak with the media, but will on Tuesday afternoon, before the team’s flight to Melbourne hours later – regarding Donald’s status for the opener, but did say that he was excited to have Donald back as a part of the team.
“Everything’s day by day,” said Shula, who was an assistant coach on the Rams when Donald was on the team from 2017 to 2022. “We’re ready for him if he does, ready for him if he doesn’t, and we’ll have a plan for however many plays he feels like he can go and we’ll go from there.”
Shula added that although Garrett missed most of training camp and the preseason with knee swelling, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year had conducted enough walkthroughs to be “immersed” in where he needs to be positioned across the Rams’ defensive schemes.
The Rams will release their first game week injury report after practice on Tuesday, which should provide a better understanding for the availability of both Donald and Garrett.
PUKA’S PSOAS? NO PROBLEM
Wide receiver Puka Nacua said he is feeling better after dealing with a psoas issue (core/lower back) after suffering an injury during their joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 11.
Nacua, who expects to play against the 49ers as the NFL ponders a potential suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, returned to practice last week.
“It feels great being out there on the field, just being able to move around, especially with just some of the isolation and not being able to participate in all the team drills, lifting, and things like that,” Nacua said. “So being around the guys I think has got some of that that energy and blood flowing in the body, and then also being excited to to kind of have that preparation of coming into game one. …
“It’s been great. (Senior vice president of sports medicine and performance) Reggie (Scott) and the crew in there, especially (associate director/athletic trainer) Mark (Dydasco) that I work with, has been great every day, just constant communication about how we’re feeling and what’s the best way for us to move forward.”
Read more Angels’ Grayson Rodriguez burned by early three-run homer