Aaron Donald's Return Addressed by Sean McVay After Myles Garrett's Injury, Rams' Loss to 49ers

Aaron Donald's playing status for a Week 2 matchup against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football remains very much up in the air.

"We haven't decided that yet," Sean McVay told reporters Monday. "He's going to continue to work his process and we'll see what that looks like."

McVay also said he doesn't know how long Myles Garrett will need to remain on injured reserve with his knee issue.

"Thought we would take an approach where he'd be feeling good enough to go contribute positive change and be the player that he's capable of," McVay added of Garrett's injury. "That wasn't the case. And so the next right thing for us is to be able to get this thing fixed."

There are still plenty of questions about what Donald will offer the Rams upon his return. While the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, 10-time Pro Bowler, eight-time first-team All-Pro and one-time champion is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, he hasn't played football since 2023. It's fair to question what he has left in the tank.

In that regard, it would make sense if the Rams and Donald take a cautious approach to his return. Certainly a snap count would make sense once he is ready to take the field, or a more specialized role on obvious passing downs. Donald was a menace as an interior rusher during his career, recording 111 sacks in 154 career games (an average of 11.1 per season).

No team was more hyped coming into the 2026 season than the Rams, given a number of prominent additions on the defensive side of the ball. But with Garrett sidelined, Donald's debut date still unknown and the team still stinging from a Week 1 loss against the San Francisco 49ers, much of that hype has—at least temporarily—died down.