The Rams got Aaron Donald back. Whether they get him for Week 1 is a different question entirely, and right now nobody's answering it. Both Ian Rapoport and ProFootballTalk are reporting the same thing on the same day: Donald's status for the season opener against the 49ers in Australia remains TBD, even as the rest of the roster locks in travel plans.
Aaron Donald's status for Week 1 still TBD, all players set to travel to Australia. t.co/uBPj7J9txj
This isn't a normal Week 1 injury-report shrug. Donald retired after the 2023 season, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year walking away at the top of his game. He stayed retired for roughly two and a half years before reversing course this offseason, reportedly signing a one-year deal worth up to $20 million with incentives that can push it to $30 million. He's 35 now, and by his own account he's put in around 13-14 weeks of training to get his body ready for an NFL snap again.
That's a lot of buildup for a guy whose head coach still can't commit to him suiting up. Sean McVay has said publicly he doesn't have a clear read yet on whether Donald will be ready, and the plan all along has been to ease him back in rather than rush a 35-year-old who hasn't played a competitive down since January 2024 straight into a game on the other side of the world.
That includes Aaron Donald, who is still TBD on playing.
The stakes for getting this right go beyond one game. This is the first regular-season NFL game ever played in Australia, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the league is treating it as a showcase. The Rams and 49ers are even taking opposite approaches to the trip — San Francisco flew out early to adjust to the time difference, while Los Angeles is planning to arrive just a day before kickoff so players don't have time to feel the jet lag at all. Throwing a returning legend who's still building back up into that logistical wrinkle only raises the degree of difficulty.
For now, all signs point to Donald making the trip regardless of whether he plays, which at least keeps the door open. But with the Rams clearly weighing the value of one comeback snap against the risk of shortchanging a defensive tackle they just paid real money to bring back, don't be surprised if this stays unresolved until game week actually arrives in Melbourne.