Despite the hype surrounding the Los Angeles Rams bringing back Aaron Donald, his return may still not happen.
There has been a lot of hype surrounding the return of Aaron Donald, and there was a belief that his chances to play for the Los Angeles Rams remained very high. However, the latest comments from head coach Sean McVay may point to the opposite.
McVay has been mostly forthcoming with what he believes may happen regarding a Donald return, but with training camp and preseason dwindling down, no announcement just yet is a bit troublesome.
The longer that Donald waits to return, the more troublesome the defensive scheme with him involved may become. Defensive coordinator Chris Shula will need to integrate the future Hall of Famer into a plan that involves the defensive line and pass rush.
That is not to say that Donald and the rest of the defense would not be able to learn the schemes, but the longer he delays his return, the more complicated things can become.
When speaking to the media following the Rams' preseason matchup, McVay once again spoke about the possibility of Donald returning.
"We have some loose things where we've identified, you know, dates that we'd like to be able to hit," McVay said. "But what I don't want to have is any sort of unnecessary pressure on him if there's some unforeseen circumstances."
McVay did not indicate what the unforseen circumstances could be, but Donald himself stated that he needed to see if there was a fire inside of him to return to play in the NFL.
The accounts of his return in terms of practicing have all been high, including McVay saying Donald could "make the team," following his official tryout that was listed on the NFL's transaction wire.
Still, McVay continues not to commit to the idea of Donald coming out of retirement, which makes sense. He does not want to speak for the defensive end or state too early or incorrectly that Donald is for sure ending his retirement.
"We've had some tentative discussions behind the scenes," McVay said. "There's a lot of stuff, without getting too granular with it. ... He knows himself in terms of, 'Am I able to stack back-to-back days? Am I able to do some of the benchmarks' that he's set out for himself."
Essentially, McVay is stating that he does not want to put added pressure on the moment or Donald himself. He called that an "invisible timeline" and reiterated that he knows the defensive standout would "add value" if he did choose to play.
It's smart for McVay not to overpromise or guarantee that Donald will play again in 2026. Anything can happen at this point, even the former Defensive Player of the Year changing his mind about returning to the NFL.
Donald had been completely content with not stepping on the field again, and he stated that just weeks before the Myles Garrett trade would happen.
When Garrett arrived, that sparked the entire Donald comeback. Donald spoke to multiple NFL insiders and indicated he would see if there was that "fire" left in him.
Thus far, Donald has not announced anything, and McVay is keeping himself tight-lipped about what the pair has discussed regarding the timeline of any sort of announcement that he would play in 2026.
Donald might also choose not to play a full season and get his body ready for a late-season push. This is just speculation, but the bottom line is that the defensive end may very well choose not to return to the NFL.
Though the Rams' defense would be upgraded in a major way if he did return, they will also be fine without Donald. McVay understands that, as does the rest of the NFL.
