Aaron Donald offers strange explanation for practice brawl with Bengals

Sep 19, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald (99) on the sideline in the first half against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald on Wednesday was asked about his actions in a wild practice brawl with the Cincinnati Bengals last week, and he didn’t want to engage in the topic.

Donald was swinging two Bengals helmets around during last Thursday’s fight, which went above and beyond the average practice scuffle.

On Wednesday, however, Donald sought to downplay the incident. He told Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press that it was “just a practice” and not something he wanted to discuss.

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 just a practice. It was football,” Donald said. “I don’t really wanna go back to nothing negative that happened and talk about something that happened in a practice. My main focus is Buffalo.”

This most definitely was not just a practice, but Donald is probably better off saying little. As unsavory as the scenes were, he did not actually get seriously punished for them. The best he can do at this stage is just move on.

The Rams and Bengals do not meet in the regular season. Unless they cross paths in the Super Bowl again, this issue is probably settled.