Defensive tackle Aaron Donald considered retiring after winning the Super Bowl. The lure of another one, plus a massive new contract, persuaded him to stay.
He possibly wishes he hadn’t.
Unlike players such as Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, Donald has not yet been asked whether he regrets his decision to return. Meeting with reporters on Thursday, Donald addressed how the Rams keep going when the season isn’t unfolding the way the team had envisioned.
“You just got to keep playing,” Donald said. “Just keep playing and trying to find a way to win. That’s it.”
Does he think things can change for the 3-6 Rams?
“Just play,” Donald said. “You just got to play. There’s obviously a lot of things that aren’t going our way. Nobody wants to be in this position, but we’re here now. All we can do is keep playing. . . .
“It isn’t a good season. Obviously, we aren’t getting it done, we aren’t playing good enough as a team, so obviously you want to fix those things and try to find a way to win some games and stack something, but the only thing you can do now is control what you can control and just play the game.”
With Cooper Kupp on IR after undergoing ankle surgery, it’s hard to imagine the Rams turning it around. It would have been impossible to predict that the season would go this way.
“I don’t think anybody [envisioned it],” Donald said. “Nobody expected to be in a position where you’re 3-6 after coming off the season we had. But we’re here now, there’s nothing you could do but just continue to play and can try to control what you can control. . . [W]e’re in the moment, we’re here now, so just got to try to find a way to dig ourselves out of a hole.”
Maybe they can. If they do, they’ll have to do it without Kupp, for the foreseeable future. Given that there’s really no other viable option in the passing game, it’s hard to envision the Rams turning it around.
The Rams aren’t done yet. But it’s getting close. With road games coming up against the Saints and Chiefs, it could be essentially over in 10 days.