Packers-Rams Final Injury Report: Donald Out; Linemen Conflicted

Los Angeles Rams All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald is out for Monday night’s game at the Green Bay Packers.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Dec 17, 2022 4:22 PM EST

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – As competitors, the Green Bay Packers’ offensive linemen would love to go against all-world Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. On the other hand, the Packers are in must-win mode and Donald’s absence certainly improves Green Bay’s chances of winning on Monday night.

“Whenever you’re going to go and play a game against one of the sport’s best, I think everybody always really looks forward to that,” right guard Jon Runyan, who hadn’t heard the Donald news, said after practice on Saturday.

“I know I was really excited about playing him last year. I really respect him. He’s a phenomenal player. I can’t say I’m going to miss him when he’s not out there. It’s just one of those things. I hope he gets better and healthy.”

Donald is in his ninth season. Following each of the last seven, he was named first-team All-Pro.

“It’s a weird thing. You’re right, you do want to see their best,” center Josh Myers said. “For me, I’ve never played against him. It would obviously be really cool to play against a player of his caliber. Personally for him, I want him to be as healthy and get back as soon as he can just for his own sake. But it definitely does give us a better shot of winning this game, no doubt.”

Donald led the NFL with 20.5 sacks in 2018 and with 20 tackles for losses in 2019. He’s the NFL’s ultimate measuring stick.

“You see where you’re at when you play guys like that,” former Pro Bowl guard Elgton Jenkins said. “He’s labeled as the No. 1 defensive tackle in the league so when you play him, you appreciate that because you see where you’re at as an offensive lineman. He’s a good player. Their loss, I guess. Hopefully he’s good.”

The Packers spent the week preparing to face Donald, a player so good that he simply won’t allow teams to run certain plays, coach Matt LaFleur said.

“You’d rather be prepared than not be prepared,” Jenkins said. “Yeah, for sure. You’ve really got to watch film on him and then go back and watch film on everybody else. I literally watched every game on him, then gone back and watched everyone else.”

Donald is one of five players who are out for the Rams, a list that doesn’t include quarterback Matthew Stafford (neck) and receiver Cooper Kupp (ankle), who are on injured reserve. Chief among them is defensive lineman Marquise Copeland, who’s started seven games this year, and cornerback David Long, who started three of the past four games.

For Green Bay, only left tackle David Bakhtiari is out due to an emergency appendectomy two weeks ago.

“The only thing I know is they had to really open me,” Bakhtiari said on Friday.

LaFleur didn’t have a timeline for Bakhtiari’s potential return. He was just happy that Bakhtiari avoided the danger of a burst appendix.

“If that happened, then you’re talking about some serious issues potentially, and then who knows what the timetable is for that,” LaFleur said. “I just know these take some time to heal and, unfortunately, it is unfortunate but, at the same time, I’m glad we caught it in time and it’s just something he’s going to have to work through and that we all have to deal with.”

Bakhtiari was the only player who did not practice. Receiver Romeo Doubs will return after missing the last four games with an ankle injury.