The Rams have reported a pair of workouts for Aaron Donald in recent weeks and there will likely be more to come before the defensive tackle makes a decision on playing in 2026.
Head coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that there was “nothing new” to report about where things stand with Donald. On Thursday, McVay was asked about the possibility that there will be more workouts coming before reaching a resolution.
“We’ll see,” McVay said, via Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. “I would love to be able to have all this stuff figured out but . . . I know he’s feeling good, and I think he will continue to work out, and I’m hopeful that we’ll have some answers on that sooner than later.”
McVay and the Rams have resisted putting any deadline on Donald’s decision since the prospect of his return from retirement became a talking point in the wake of the trade for Myles Garrett. There’s no sign that their stance is changing even as it remains unclear when Donald will make up his mind.
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The clock keeps ticking toward Week 1, and Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald has yet to decide whether he’ll be playing in 2026.
Asked by reporters on Tuesday for an update on Donald, coach Sean McVay said, “Nope, nothing new on him.”
The situation has prompted plenty of speculation. Not long ago, Donald’s return seemed to be inevitable. He has since shifted his target for making a decision at least twice, and McVay has made it clear that the Rams won’t be attaching an “invisible deadline” to Donald.
The only visible deadline is the Tuesday after Week 13.
Donald has worked out twice with the Rams in recent weeks, intensifying the notion that he’s on the brink of returning. But only Donald knows where he currently stands in his overall process of determining whether he wants to play — and why he’d be returning.
Is he chasing a ring? Does he simply miss it? Or is he interested in seeing how it feels to play without being constantly double- and triple-teamed, now that the Rams have Myles Garrett on the team?
The final outcome could take plenty of different forms. He could return in the near future and prepare to join the Rams for their Week 1 trip to Australia against the 49ers. He could kick the can until later in the season, waiting for confirmation that the Rams will be a high-end contender while hedging against the possibility that things won’t go as planned before officially committing.
The problem is that, until Donald emerges from retirement, he won’t be on the team. He could, in theory, be placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list or the Non-Football Injury list. That would allow him to be with the team but delay his debut.
Of course, Donald wouldn’t be able to practice until the Rams open the 21-day window for doing so. But he’d still be around, while working out on his own and waiting for the right time to start the three-week clock for moving him to the 53-man roster.
Then there’s the possibility that Donald won’t return at all.
The dilemma is a simple one. He wants to know he’ll be as good as he has always been. But he won’t know it with any real certainty until he practices or plays against other players.
Only Donald can resolve this question. And the only thing the Rams can do is move forward with the players they have, keeping the door open for a player who could possibly enhance their prospects significantly for the 2026 season.
The Rams have brought in a veteran receiver who started his career with the club.
Los Angeles announced on Tuesday that the club has signed Alex Bachman.
Bachman, 30, entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Rams back in 2019. But he was waived with an injury settlement in early September of that year.
Since then, Bachman has spent time with the Giants, Texans, and the last two seasons with the Raiders. In 2025, Bachman appeared in 13 games, with most of his snaps coming on special teams. He also caught two passes for 23 yards on three targets.
As a corresponding move, the Rams have waived receiver Mario Williams with an injury designation.
Aaron Donald had a second workout at the Rams’ team facility as he continues to decide whether to unretire. Coach Sean McVay was asked about the defensive tackle’s “tryout,” as it was designated on the NFL’s personnel notice Sunday, but didn’t allow much.
He noted that team personnel were present with team equipment, requiring the workout to be reported to the league.
“I’m not trying to be like, coy with it,” McVay said, Benjamin Royer of the ocregister.com. “It’s semantical. It’s part of his process that he’s going through. It just allows us to be able to use football equipment and it’s very similar to what the other workout was. . . . That was just another part of his process.”
Donald initially worked out for the Rams on Aug. 5 to evaluate how he felt.
It appears he has had other workouts at the team facility without team personnel present and without use of team equipment, via a video posted by 2Tenths Speed & Agility on Aug. 10. That would not require the Rams to report it to the league.
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year began considering a comeback after the Rams traded for two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. He has not made a decision yet, and the Rams aren’t giving him any deadlines.
Donald, who has not played in the NFL since 2023, would appear to be leaning toward a return. Otherwise, it’s unlikely he would not continue to work out at the team facility.
Rams stars Myles Garrett and Puka Nacua remained sidelined by their injuries, but they should be able to return to the field sooner than later — though it may not be this week.
Head coach Sean McVay told reporters after practice that at this point, both Garrett and Nacua are expected to return to practice next week.
“Puka is doing good, whether or not we wait for next week or not, we’re just kind of taking it a day at a time,” McVay said, via Zach Edwards of the team’s website. “Then Myles, we’ll see, probably next week as to when we think we’ll get those guys back.”
“Myles is doing a good job. He was out here moving around before. Puka still has some soreness there,” McVay added. “We’re going to err on the side of caution while not minimizing how important it is to get those guys out here.”
Garrett has been dealing with swelling in his knee while Nacua suffered a core muscle injury last week.
As McVay has said before when it comes to injuries and key players, he’s stressing that both Garrett and Nacua need to come back and perform at a high level.
“It gets to a point where, hey, we need our guys out there to be able to practice to get ready to simulate what’s going to be a great, long, challenging season,” McVay said. “No matter how great you are when you’re in those guys’ roles, we need to be able to get them out there. But we want to make sure that it’s a return to performance, not just return to play.”
Additionally, McVay noted offensive lineman Keagan Trost and receiver Mario Williams are likely to miss a few weeks as both are dealing with hamstring injuries.
The Rams will host the Saints on Saturday afternoon for the second week of preseason play.
The Rams are continuing to give two of their star players time to heal.
Per Sarah Barshop of ESPN, receiver Puka Nacua and edge rusher Myles Garrett are not practicing on Monday.
Nacua is dealing with a core muscle injury suffered during last week’s joint practice with the Cowboys.
Garrett has been sidelined by swelling in his knee.
The Rams will host the Saints for a preseason matchup on Saturday afternoon. Neither Nacua nor Garrett were expected to play even without being injured, as Los Angeles has not traditionally played starters in the preseason under head coach Sean McVay.
Playing in Australia to start the regular season, the Rams have added a punter from down under.
Los Angeles announced on Monday that the club has signed Jack Bouwmeester.
Bouwmeester does not count against the 90-man roster, as he is the club’s international player exemption.
After playing college ball at Michigan State, Utah, and Texas from 2019-2025, Bouwmeester went undrafted in the spring and signed with the 49ers as a college free agent.
San Francisco waived him last week.
Aaron Donald initially worked out at the Rams team facility on Aug. 5 to evaluate how he felt. He did so again Sunday.
According to the NFL personnel notice, the defensive tackle worked out in Woodland Hills.
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year began considering a comeback after the Rams traded for two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. He has not made a decision yet, and the Rams aren’t giving him any deadlines.
“I’m hopeful that it will be sooner than later, but I also want to respect when he does feel like that clarity will come,” coach Sean McVay said Saturday. “I don’t want to say too much or put some sort of invisible deadline on something that doesn’t exist in my mind for him.”
Donald has not played in the NFL since 2023.
And now it’s becoming a little more apparent why the Rams used the 13th overall pick in the draft on quarterback Ty Simpson.
Yes, it was only the preseason. For rookie quarterbacks, it’s all about looking the part. Simpson looked the part on Saturday at Kansas City.
Simpson completed 21 of 25 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns in three quarters of action.
“He took what the defense gave him,” coach Sean McVay said after the game. “You know, I thought he read the plays out, read with his feet. You know, I thought he did a really good job overall. And I thought, even on some of the keepers, where maybe the primary isn’t there, he attacks with the ball up. . . .
“I thought he kept the ball in play. You know, that’s the biggest thing, is keeping the ball in play. There was one situation there, we’ll have a great learning [opportunity] on a third down, where, you know, they kind of played a man coverage, we ended up throwing into the flat to [tight end] Max Klare. I’ve got to see — I think the pocket might allow him to be able to progress, but otherwise, it was a really good day for him. He just felt like he was in good command, and it was cool to see a good smile on his face.”
McVay may be smiling, too, if he thinks the rookie can be trusted to serve as the understudy to reigning MVP Matthew Stafford. The only other option is Stetson Bennett, who has no regular-season snaps in three seasons.
Ideally, the preseason will be Simpson’s only chance to get live reps. That likely explains the decision to give him three full quarters of playing time.
But it’s not just development for a post-Stafford future. They need to have someone ready, in the event Stafford’s back flares up or he has some other injury during the grind of a 17-game season.
The timetable for defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s decision on whether to play in 2026 has been shifting. Rams coach Sean McVay wants to give Donald all the space he may need.
“We have some loose things where we’ve identified you know dates that we’d like to be able to hit, but what I don’t want to have is any sort of unnecessary pressure on him if there’s some unforeseen circumstances,” McVay told reporters on Saturday, via Gary Klen of the L.A. Times.
It’s ultimately a no-lose situation for the Rams.
“I feel great about our football team as it currently stands, and I know he’ll add value if he decides to come,” McVay said. “And so if he’s put himself in a position to be able to say yes or no I think he’s earned that right to have clarity on that. We’re not at that point quite yet.”
Does McVay have a preferred timeline?
“I’m hopeful that it will be sooner than later but I also want to respect when he does feel like that clarity will come,” McVay said. “I don’t want to say too much or put some sort of invisible deadline on something that doesn’t exist in my mind for him.”
Donald still has time to join the team and be ready to play in Week 1. At some point, however, the clock will start ticking more loudly.
The only real deadline, as mentioned earlier today, is the Tuesday after Week 13. It all comes down to when Donald thinks he’s ready to get back to being the Aaron Donald everyone is accustomed to seeing on the field.
