Practice update and coach’s assessment
Aaron Donald missed Monday’s Rams practice just two days after rejoining the club, and head coach Sean McVay said the team is intentionally easing him back into action.
“The first step was, ‘all right, if you’re coming back let us do that, let us get you out on the practice field,’” McVay said Sunday, explaining the phased approach. McVay later acknowledged that Donald not practicing Monday “was part of the plan all along.”
Asked about the possibility of Donald not playing in the season opener in Melbourne against the San Francisco 49ers, McVay conceded that could happen. “Oh, yeah, absolutely. That could be a possibility,” McVay said. He added that if Donald isn’t ready for the trip, the Rams “absolutely wouldn’t have him playing Australia unnecessarily.”
Timing, decision process and what Donald is saying
The Rams want to see Donald participate in team settings before finalizing a Week 1 call, McVay said, noting that they have not yet done 11-on-11 work with him. “I think the first steps are let’s get him into some of those settings, see what that really looks like,” McVay said, and that Donald will “help lead and guide us” on how best to use him.
Donald himself was non-committal after returning. “I need to be at the level that I want to play at and that’s all I can do,” he said Sunday. “Ain’t rushing [anything]. Like I said, just continue to stack them days and see where we [are] at.”
Practical considerations and contract details
The Rams will travel to Melbourne next week, and the team has signaled it would prefer to make a status decision before the flight so Donald does not take a 15-hour trip if he won’t be active. McVay stressed the club will weigh what’s best “for him and for the team.”
Donald’s return follows two years away from the field; he hasn’t played in an NFL game since January 2024. His contract reflects the ramp-up possibility: Donald signed a one-year, $30 million deal that includes $10 million in per-week roster bonuses tied to active status. That bonus structure pays out at $666,667 per game for up to 15 games, meaning a missed Week 1 would not necessarily prevent him from earning the full bonus over the course of the season.
Outside chatter has suggested the team could limit Donald’s early-season workload — one report floated a 30-40 snap plan — but that remains unconfirmed. For now, the Rams are collecting more on-field data and have left Donald’s Week 1 availability genuinely up in the air. The team has said it will make a decision once it has seen how Donald performs in team practice settings.
