Aaron Donald is ready to come sprinting out of the tunnel again.
The Los Angeles Rams defensive star Donald spoke with reporters after practice on Friday. During the session, Donald revealed that the plan is for him to make his season debut against the New York Giants on Monday night (per Adam Schefter of ESPN).
Donald, now 35 years old, retired from the Rams after the 2023 NFL season (which marked his 10th in the league). During his first stint with them, Donald cemented himself as one of the greatest defensive players ever, winning three Defensive Player of the Year Awards, making 10 Pro Bowl teams, earning eight All-Pro nods, and helping anchor the Rams to victory in Super Bowl LVI during the 2021 season.
But after spending two years out of the game, Donald came out of retirement to rejoin the Rams this offseason amid much fanfare. The former first-round draft pick ended up getting a one-year contract for sizable amount of money in order to make his grand return.
Still, Donald only finalized his comeback a couple of weeks ago and was not ready to suit up again right away. In fact, the Rams notably decided to leave Donald at home while they played the San Francisco 49ers in Australia during Week 1 (ultimately losing that game in a 27-7 laugher).
But now Donald appears ready for Week 2 against Jaxson Dart and the Giants. It will still take some time though for Donald to share the field with his new star partner on the defensive line Myles Garrett, who is set to miss the next several weeks after a concerning injury development.
