The Rams and Bengals last met, officially, in Super Bowl LVI.
Unofficially, they had joint practices during training camp in 2022. One session sparked a specific incident in which Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald ended up securing a helmet from a Bengals player and swinging it violently into a scrum of bodies.
On Friday, a reporter asked Donald if there would be any “carryover” on Monday night from that melee.
“My main focus is trying to find a way to win a game,” Donald replied. “It isn’t about going out there trying to fight, physically fight, but with my pads we can do some fighting, but I’m just trying to play a game. Not trying to do anything dirty. I’m just here trying to do my job and win a game. That’s it.”
If anything like that were to happen in a game, there would be serious consequences — during the game and after it. Because the league (inexplicably) exercises no jurisdiction over joint practices during camp, there was no specific consequence for Donald at the time.
Thus, it’s highly unlikely we’ll see it again on Monday night. If we do, the Rams will be penalized, Donald will be ejected (unless the league office doesn’t have, you know, “100 percent” confirmation of the situation), and he could/should/would be suspended for one or more games after the game that will put a bow on Week 3 of the 2023 NFL regular season.
