Aaron Donald knows Rams will be tested by Bills, Josh Allen

By Eric D. Williams
FOX Sports NFC West Writer

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Former teammates Aaron Donald and Von Miller likely will not be exchanging many texts this week.

Donald and the defending Super Bowl champs, the Los Angeles Rams, host Miller’s new team, the Buffalo Bills, in the opening game of the NFL regular season Thursday night at SoFi Stadium.

The Rams will hoist their Super Bowl banner in a ceremony before the nationally televised game. Ozzy Osbourne will play at halftime.

While Donald appreciates everything Miller did to help him earn a Super Bowl ring last season, that’s all in the past.

“We miss him, but he’s on the opposite side now,” Donald said about Miller. “He’s the enemy.”

Donald talked to reporters for the first time since his involvement in a brawl during joint practices against the Cincinnati Bengals a few weeks ago, which caught an angry Donald on video swinging a helmet at Cincinnati players.

Rams head coach Sean McVay said Donald was disciplined, and the organization handled the issue in-house.

Asked for the first time by local reporters about the incident since it occurred, Donald took the Bill Belichick approach — on to Buffalo.

“My main focus is Buffalo right now,” Donald said. “I’m happy nobody got hurt in the practice and whatever. But my main focus is Thursday night against Buffalo.”

Donald mulled retirement after his team’s Super Bowl victory but followed up a few months later by signing a three-year, $95 million extension.

Aaron Donald becomes highest-paid non-QB ever

After threatening to retire following the Rams’ Super Bowl win, Aaron Donald got paid. The All-Pro defensive tackle got a $40 million raise over the last three years of his existing contact, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.

While the 31-year-old’s actions in the joint scrimmage at Cincinnati were rightly criticized nationally, Donald is still the same guy on the field and in the meeting room, according to his teammates.

“I don’t know if you can take it for granted, but he’s like having a brother out there,” fellow defensive lineman Marquise Copeland said. “You learn everything you can from him, but he’s still one of the guys.

“He’s a GOAT on the field, and it’s great to learn from him, but he’s a brother. A lot of people can’t have a relationship with the GOAT like that. So that’s definitely helped my game a lot.”

Added safety Taylor Rapp: “We’ve got AD. We’ve got Bobby Wagner and Jalen [Ramsey]. Those are, like, the top guys at each of level of the defense on our team. Any time you can have a presence like that at each level, it’s unbelievable from the back end.”

Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said Donald and the Rams want that smoke.

“We’ve always had a target on our back,” Morris said. “Whether [it was] the pressure because we were ‘in it all to win it all’ — no s—, who’s not, right? Now you win it, they’re all coming after you. Good. We expect everybody’s best shot. That’s what we deserve.”

The Rams will get that and then some from Josh Allen and the Bills, the favorites to come out of the AFC and make the Super Bowl. These two teams met two years ago, in a 35-32 Week 3 victory for the Bills in an empty stadium in Buffalo during a COVID-19-impacted season.

“He’s one of one, I think everybody knows that,” Allen told reporters this week when asked about Donald. “It’s scary to watch the film of him, but it’s just understanding that you’ve got to go in with a plan.”

In that Buffalo win, Allen finished 24-of-33 for 311 yards and four touchdown passes, with just one interception. But the Rams also sacked him four times, including two by Donald.

“He’s big,” said Donald about Allen. “He has long arms, so he tries to use the stiff arm to get that separation. Athletic and mobile enough to make you miss and break off for a long run. You add all of that into one, you’ve got a good weapon.”

One focus for the Rams will be limiting Allen’s ability to create second-reaction plays by scrambling outside the pocket and forcing L.A.’s secondary to cover for a longer period of time.

“Because he has a strong arm, sometimes you see guys hanging from his legs or his lower body, and he still has the arm power to throw it,” Wagner said. “It’s really important if you get close to him, you’ve got to wrap him up because he’s strong enough to have guys hanging from him and still make an accurate throw.”

According to Next Gen Stats, last season Allen completed 52.2% of deep passes for an NFL-best 427 yards, with five touchdowns and one interception for a 119.1 passes rating.

“He can throw the ball at any spot on the field at any given time,” Morris said. “Plaster rules [defenders staying with the receiver through the duration of a play] are always important. But they are particularly important when you know you’re playing against a guy that can break tackles and is so heavy and can absolutely extend plays and make them go longer.”

It’s up to Donald and his line-mates to make those plays go shorter.

Eric D. Williams is an NFL writer for FOX Sports. He has covered the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @eric_d_williams.