The Los Angeles Rams dropped their final preseason game against their Super Bowl LVI opponents the Cincinnati Bengals, but that wasn’t the story of the week.
The Rams and Bengals held two joint practices during the week of the game and things looked like they were going fine after only small scuffles occurred on the first day. However, the second day was a completely different situation as a massive fight broke out that forced head coaches Sean McVay and Zac Taylor to cancel practice early.
In the midst of the action was Aaron Donald, who was seen swinging helmets in the fray. When asked about it, Donald downplayed it as a regular thing in football and emphasized his focus was on Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills, via Rob Maaddi of Associated Press:
Regarding the helmet incident at #Rams #Bengals joint practice last week, Aaron Donald told me: "It was just a practice. It was football. I don't really wanna go back to nothing negative that happened & talk about something that happened in a practice. My main focus is Buffalo."
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) August 31, 2022
It was a scary incident that could’ve ended poorly, but luckily staff and players were able to separate everyone involved before anyone got hurt. The situation is similar to that of Myles Garrett when he swung his helmet at Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph, resulting in a suspension for the former.
Fortunately for Donald and Los Angeles, because this happened during a practice and not a game, the NFL doesn’t have jurisdiction to suspend him for his actions. The Rams will decide how they want to proceed as far as punishment goes, but they said they will keep that in-house and Donald will be dressed and available to play against the Bills on Thursday Night Football.
