When the Los Angeles Rams reported for training camp earlier this week, everybody was present except for Aaron Donald.
The former Rams superstar has been contemplating a return to the NFL after the team acquired Myles Garrett this offseason. Even though he hasn’t yet joined the Rams though, he has been working out on his own seeing if he can get that fire back to return for an 11th NFL season after taking two years off.
And while there still isn’t a decision, Sean McVay believes things are trending in the right direction for Donald to return, per Sarah Barshop of ESPN:
“There won’t be any news on that front until we get back to Woodland Hills,” McVay said Friday. “We’ve loosely had some different timelines that are kind of temporary. I want to keep those between us just if something unforeseen happens, out of respect for him and the situation. But I know this: Things are going in the right direction. And if there’s an arrow, it’s trending upwards.”
Things are starting to get real here as McVay would not be making these comments unless he was confident Donald could potentially return based of the recent conversations they’ve had.
It makes sense that Donald won’t be joining the Rams for training camp, but once they return to their Woodland Hills practice facility and begin their preparation for Week 1, it will be time for him to make a decision. Donald is typically either all-in or all-out, so it’s hard to imagine him joining the Rams in the middle of the season or just before the playoffs.
The Rams don’t open up the regular season for another month though, which gives Donald plenty of time to continue working his way back into game shape before making a decision.
Regardless, it’s hard not to get excited about the possibility of Donald joining Garrett and the rest of the Rams’ talented, young defensive line for the 2026 season.
Kobie Turner: It would be crazy if Aaron Donald returns
One person who is excited to potentially reunite with Donald is Kobie Turner, who discussed how crazy it would be for the legend to suit up again for the Rams.
“That’d be crazy,” Turner recently said. “I know he’s been messing around with it. … Having 95 (Garrett) out here does some things. … To have two historic defensive players on that line together and to have the rest of us who are trying to build up our reputation and to build to that greatness they have garnered, I think that’d be cool for L.A.”
