Aaron Donald returning for Rams' Week 2 matchup with Giants, Sean McVay confirms

Donald will make his season debut Monday night, giving Los Angeles a major reinforcement along its defensive front

Sep 19, 2026 at 3:36 pm ET • 1 min read

Aaron Donald is back. Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay confirmed that the superstar defensive lineman will return for the team's Week 2 game against the New York Giants on "Monday Night Football."

"If he said it, he's going," McVay said Saturday, per The Athletic. "Whatever Aaron says, I support."

Donald said Friday that his plan was to play against the Giants, per the L.A. Times, so it appears he will indeed return.

Donald retired following the 2023 season after a surefire Hall-of-Fame career during which he made the Pro Bowl every season, was named a First Team All-Pro eight times in 10 years, and won the Defensive Player of the Year award three times. He racked up 111 sacks, 176 tackles for loss, and 260 quarterback hits during that time.

He un-retired and re-signed with the Rams during training camp, inking a one-year, $20 million deal with incentives that could make him as much as $30 million. Donald alluded to a possible comeback after the Rams traded for Myles Garrett earlier in the offseason, and that possibility became a reality shortly before the start of the season.

Donald sat out the Rams' Week 1 game against the division rival San Francisco 49ers in Australia, during which Garrett did not look like himself. We'll have to wait a while longer to see Donald and Garrett on the same defensive line after Garrett had knee surgery and was placed on injured reserve with a designation to return.

The Rams need Donald in the middle of their defensive line after the 49ers ran and passed with extreme efficiency, but it remains to be seen what type of role he'll play early in the season after two years away from football.