COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Beneath soft facial features and a mellow voice is a competitive streak that makes Aaron Donald one of the best football players in the world. Usually, it is properly harnessed.
It’s a delicate line, though, and occasionally Donald, the Rams’ star defensive lineman, has crossed it. That happened last week, when Donald retaliated to a dirty hit, both immediately and after the game. The Rams have taken a nuanced approach, with support for Donald but a desire not to see a repeat.
For the most part, Donald, whose fierce play helped him win NFL defensive player of the year honors last season, does well with keeping emotions in check. The Rams need him to return to that, and to maintain his stellar play, when they face Kansas City’s high-powered offense in Monday’s showcase game.
“Just have to be smart. Can’t hurt your team,” Donald said Friday at the team hotel, before the Rams held a practice at Air Force Academy.
As of early Friday evening, the league hadn’t made public any fines for Donald because of last week’s game. In the fourth quarter, he was shoved in the back by Seattle offensive lineman Justin Britt, after he went out of bounds, and Donald charged back to confront Britt.
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Both players received personal-foul penalties. Then, right at the conclusion of the game, Donald took off his jersey and shoulder pads, put on his helmet and jogged across the field to confront Britt. The players jostled each other, and Donald appeared to tug on Britt’s facemask before teammates pulled him away.
Perhaps that’s why Donald might escape supplemental punishment. Rams coach Sean McVay indicated Seattle players were attempting to injure Donald during the game, and while Donald had little interest in discussing any of this, he did nod when McVay’s comments were relayed to him.
“They did a lot of things,” Donald said of the Seahawks, “but hopefully (the league) picked it up on film and seen what they were doing.”
That said, McVay was not pleased with his team’s lack of discipline against the Seahawks. Turning away, and not seeking retribution, isn’t easy, but it’s smart. Donald usually doesn’t have an issue with that, but he likes to say that his sacks come in bunches. So, it seems, do his run-ins with the league office.
In his first two seasons (2014-15), Donald had only two personal-foul penalties. In 2016, he had five, plus a game disqualification, plus two fines worth almost $40,000. Things were calm against last season, as Donald was called for roughing the passer twice but had no other personal fouls.
This year’s season opener brought a fine of just more than $20,000, after Donald was ruled to have hit Oakland quarterback Derek Carr low on a sack. Donald appeared to incidentally stumble into Carr, but he was called for roughing the passer and the league issued a fine a few days later.
Donald had remained incident-free until the Seattle game, and said he didn’t think last week’s issues, both by him and teammates, would turn into a long-term issue.
“That’s the past and I’ve learned from it,” Donald said. “I think we all learned. We all were involved in it and we all understand what’s going on and what we need to do to be better.”
The Rams, in general, are in the upper part of the NFL this season when it comes to personal fouls. They’ve been called for eight unnecessary-roughness penalties, most in the NFL, and two of them happened last week against Seattle (Donald and Blake Countess).
Also, the Rams have been called for three roughing-the-passer penalties, and two of them came last week (Cory Littleton and Ndamukong Suh). The Rams’ only unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty came last week, when Dante Fowler got flagged for talking to officials after the Rams had made a third-down stop.
“After-the-play penalties, we really don’t accept them,” defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. “They can’t happen. Sometimes you hit a guy close out of bounds, that kind of thing, but any post-play penalties, you’ve got to think about your team and what it costs if those things happen.”
Suh, who shares a locker wall with Donald at the Rams’ practice facility, claimed ignorance when asked for his thoughts on the Donald-Britt clash, and didn’t want to say much about the penalties in general.
“You’ve got to ask the refs,” Suh said. “We won the game. That’s what I’m happy about. I’m not really focused on what calls were made. We discussed them as a team and kind of left it at that.”
SUCCESSFUL SURGERY
Rams receiver Cooper Kupp, who tore an ACL during last week’s game, underwent surgery this week. McVay called it a “clean surgery,” with no complications. The timetable for Kupp’s return to game action isn’t yet known, including whether he would be ready for the start of next season.
“He called right afterward and he was in great spirits,” McVay said. “I know if anybody is going to attack the rehab process the right way, it’s going to be Cooper Kupp.”
RETURN TO L.A.?
Sammy Watkins, one of the Chiefs’ top offensive threats, seemed on track for a reunion with the Rams. Watkins signed with Kansas City during the offseason after one inconsistent season with the Rams.
Watkins has been dealing with a foot injury, and while he practiced Thursday, he ended up on the Chiefs’ injury report Friday. It’s not known whether Watkins will play Monday, although Chiefs coach Andy Reid sounded as though Watkins would be part of his plan.
“Sam has done a nice job for us, like he did for the Rams,” Reid said. “He’s a good kid and a hard worker. I’ve really enjoyed being around him as a person. He shows up to work every day and practices hard.”
