Aaron Donald Says He Plans to Make Rams Debut vs. Giants in Week 2

The Los Angeles Rams could have defensive lineman Aaron Donald on the field on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants. In his media availability on Friday, Donald was asked whether he’ll play against the Giants. “That’s the plan,” said Donald.

Will Aaron Donald play against Giants?
“That’s the plan,” he said.
— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) September 18, 2026

Over the past few weeks, the Rams have been mum on when Donald would make his debut after coming out of retirement. Head coach Sean McVay has been consistent in that they would allow Donald to go through his process and see how his body felt. While Donald didn’t make the trip to Australia, playing in Week 2 always seemed like a more realistic possibility.

“It's more along the lines of, how does he feel? He's obviously chomping at the bit but I think for him, getting those reps in 11-on-11 settings,” said McVay on Thursday. “What we are hopeful for is that he'll have some good work today, tomorrow, and then hopefully he's feeling good enough.”

Donald saying that he plans to play on Monday against the Giants would seem to imply that he feels good enough to play and is ready to hit the field. It’s much more definitive than last week when Donald said that he was feeling good, but they were still taking it day-by-day. Donald has been practicing the last three weeks and working to get back into football shape.

Without a trip to Australia to worry about, it seems that the plan is for Donald to make his debut at SoFi Stadium against the Giants. The last time Donald took the field in a Rams uniform came in 2023 in a Wild Card playoff loss to the Detroit Lions.

Donald’s debut will come at a great time for the Rams’ defense who will be without Myles Garrett. While it was Garrett’s presence that enticed Donald to come back, the Rams placed the edge rusher on injured reserve on Thursday after he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery.

Garrett’s injury makes Donald’s ability to command attention from opposing offenses even more important. Even if Donald isn’t the same player he was when he retired, it’s fair to say that he wouldn’t be back if there wasn’t some confidence that he could play at a respectable level. The Rams will hope Donald can help impact games on the defensive line while Garrett gets healthy.

Naturally, there will be questions about how much Donald will play and what type of impact he’ll have. However, his presence alone should provide a much-needed morale boost for the defense. If everything goes according to plan, it looks like Donald is set to make his Rams debut on Monday Night Football.

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