Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Aaron Donald is now officially returning to the Los Angeles Rams for the 2026 season after taking two years off in retirement.
Donald had been working out for the past handful of weeks to see if he could regain that fire and get back into playing shape. And now that he is returning for another season to play alongside Myles Garrett, his expectations for himself remain sky high, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes. Do I feel like I can still be myself? 100%,” Donald said. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”
No one expects more of themself than Donald, and even after two years off, he is confident he will be able to play at a high level after studying his workouts:
“I studied myself to a ‘T’,” Donald said. “Watched every movement, every cut, every hip flip. In my opinion, I don’t see no difference. It looked a little cleaner to me.”
The Rams having a legitimate chance at winning another Super Bowl was a major factor for Donald during this process. He is excited for that opportunity but knows he can’t take anything for granted:
“I think this is a complete team with me here or without me here, so to even have the opportunity to be part of this, be with this team, (I) take nothing for granted,” Donald said. “It’s a blessing to be retired from the game for two years and have the opportunity to come back and be a part of something special.”
It remains to be seen if Donald will be ready to play in Week 1, but now that he is back in the fold, he will go through a few practices before making that determination.
Aaron Donald admits it feels weird to be back with Rams
Even though Donald stayed close to the Rams the last two years, he admitted it feels a little strange to be back in the building as a player:
“It felt weird feeling like an actual football player,” said Donald, who is regularly around the facility doing workouts in the weight room. “I was always around, but to be like, ‘OK, I’m going to meetings,’ it felt a little weird, right? But it felt good. Had my first team meeting today, it was a long one, too, an hour and 20 minutes, so it felt good to be back around the guys, get to see the guys in the locker room.”
Donald still has some teammates left on the Rams from his final season in 2023, so getting acclimated shouldn’t be an issue in the coming days and weeks.