This weekend, Los Angeles Rams star defensive end Aaron Donald was dressed in full uniform and went through warmups ahead of the preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders, but he did not play. And now, it’s been revealed that he won’t make the trip to this week’s joint practices against the Denver Broncos. But as it turns out, there’s a perfectly valid reason why.
As Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay explains, Aaron Donald will not be making the trip to Denver because he has a baby that’s due “any day,” and so the team decided to allow him to go through warmups as sort of a “dress rehearsal” before the start of the season.
“He’s got a baby that’s due any day and so he’s not going to make the trip to Denver and so we wanted to make sure that he got kind of his dress rehearsal, so that was the thought process there,” McVay announced this week according to Cameron DaSilva of USAToday.com. “A lot of our guys that haven’t played in the preseason will go through that next week. I wanted to be able to get that done with him this week.”
McVay’s words clarified some things, and the NFL world had plenty to say about it on social media.
If it’s one guy that doesn’t need preseason it’s AD
— Darius Davis Jr (@D_DavisJr) August 21, 2023
Ha, He just waiting for the SZN to start…
— State Champion Coach Woo (@UofLSU) August 21, 2023
Broncos won't have to fear helmets being used as weapons https://t.co/YzeYIWv5Pw
— The Bengals Show (@W2TJShow) August 21, 2023
How are we going to know if he’s good enough to make the team?
— Bill St. Amand (@Slobberdawg49) August 21, 2023
So we don't have to worry about Aaron Donald getting into a fight and swinging helmets at practice?
That's a W. https://t.co/ZM7eLafQMY
— BroncoFanatic97 (@BroncoFanatic97) August 20, 2023
https://twitter.com/DaRealConMan/status/1693308020904886317?s=20
Of course, Donald went viral last year for all the wrong reasons when he swung a helmet at Cincinnati Bengals players during a joint practice session. It looks like there’s no chance that will happen this year.
