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Aaron Donald’s comeback tour won’t include a trip to Australia.
The Los Angeles Rams star defensive tackle will not be joining the team for its Week 1 game against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, the NFL’s first-ever game in Australia, coach Sean McVay announced on Tuesday.
The decision is about Donald’s long-term viability and what such an early overseas trip, with a long flight and a 17-hour time difference, will do to his comeback efforts.
Donald, 35, has spent his time since his official return on Aug. 30 ramping back up into football shape after two years of retirement, and he won’t quite be ready to take on such a challenging road trip to start the season.
“I’m feeling good, feeling really good,” Donald said Monday on the possibility of playing. … “Honestly, I really do feel good. Like I said, things are clicking faster than what I thought it would be.”
Donald said upon his arrival that he wants to make this comeback effort only if he’s at full go, and the three-time Defensive Player of the Year simply isn’t there just yet. Rather than perform on a limited or rotational basis, Donald wants to be the full version of himself when he’s back on the field.
“Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes. Do I feel like I can still be myself? One hundred percent,” Donald said when first announcing his return. “If I didn’t feel like that, I wouldn’t be here. … If anything, it’s just getting back on the grass and knocking the rust off as far as playing football again, 11-on-11, working my eyes, getting my feel for the game, certain reactions and things that made me who I am.
“Once you choose to come back, you’re all the way back in. You can’t be halfway in it. You have to be all the way in it.”
The Rams should have plenty to work with on defense without him after the blockbuster trades for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and two-time All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie. In Donald’s specific place, Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske should play a high number of snaps.
It remains to be seen exactly when Donald will return to game action, but it could be as early as the team’s Week 2 matchup against the New York Giants. That game is on “Monday Night Football” and at SoFi Stadium, where Donald helped lead the Rams to a Super Bowl victory in the 2021 season.
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