Rams' Sean McVay on Aaron Donald: 'The Great Ones Never Get Complacent'
Despite flirting with retirement for the second consecutive offseason, three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald is back for a 10th season with the Los Angeles Rams. And based off of how motivated Donald looks, you would hardly know it once seemed uncertain whether he would play in 2023.
Coach Sean McVay -- who has seemingly also considered stepping away from his post in each of the last two offseasons -- continues to be impressed by Donald.
"I think that's why he is who he is. The great ones never get complacent," McVay said. "There's always things that you can look at. Nobody has higher standards for Aaron than he does of himself. And I think that's a separator. And I think that's a consistent thing when you start talking about people that are in that kind of company. And he certainly is in rarefied air. "
Donald was limited to 11 games by a left ankle injury a season ago, but it wasn't an unproductive campaign. While Donald wasn't an All-Pro for the first time since his rookie year of 2014, he still had 49 combined tackles, 11 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for a loss and five sacks in 2022.
Donald is one of the only players in NFL history that would be seen as having a down year with the production that he put up over 11 games last season.
"I think there's a lot of people on this team that have something to prove," McVay said. "I think he loves the game. He missed the game. He may miss games for a significant amount of time for the first time in his career. I think you appreciate just getting out here to come and put pads on with your teammates in practice settings and feel some of the youthful energy from some of our younger guys but also understand the power of your influence by the way that you bring it in every single thing that you do and that's been kind of who Aaron has always been, which is good.”
However, the top-heavy Rams are perhaps too reliant on Donald, 32, along with quarterback Matthew Stafford and receiver Cooper Kupp. Donald and Stafford may be beyond the point of their careers where they can be expected to play 17 games a season. Kupp -- the youngest of the trio at age 30 -- is already dealing with a hamstring injury.
For as hungry as Donald may be now, you do wonder whether this will be his final season -- either in Los Angeles or the NFL as a whole -- if the Rams aren't able to rebound after a 5-12 season in 2022.
You can follow Tim Kelly @TimKellySports on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Rams? Click Here
Want to join in on the discussion? Click here to become a member of the Ram Digest message board community today!
