Donald's return fires up Rams, who bounce back with rout of Giants

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  Sarah BarshopSep 22, 2026, 01:34 AM ET

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  Sarah Barshop covers the Los Angeles Rams for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Green Bay Packers for ESPN Milwaukee. She then moved to Houston to cover the Texans. She came to ESPN after working as a writer and editor for Sports Illustrated.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- When Aaron Donald ran out onto the field for his first game since the end of the 2023 season, SoFi Stadium erupted.

The Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle, who was playing in his first game back since coming out of retirement on Aug. 30, said he "did a little bit more jumping than I used to do" on his run out of the tunnel before the 28-6 win against the New York Giants.

Donald called it "special" to be embraced the way he was in his return.

"If you didn't get chills when he was introduced, then you're not freaking alive," Rams coach Sean McVay said.

Donald's presence affected his teammates, too. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said he was "so juiced" after watching Donald run out of the tunnel, "I couldn't control myself."

"The fans were happy to see him back, and we all were, too," Stafford said.

Donald finished the game with three tackles, a tackle for a loss and zero pressures, according to Next Gen Stats. He played 32 (58.2%) of the Rams' defensive snaps. Asked whether Donald was on a snap count, McVay said, "What do you think?"

"You tell him to come out," McVay joked.

Donald said afterward that he was "a little sore right now." He had a wrap on his right hand during his postgame news conference, but when asked about it, he said his hand was "just a little sore."

"Two panicked practices and then a game," Donald said.

He said he felt a little rust during the game but that things slowed down for him toward the second half.

While Donald did not have a pressure, the Rams had a 66.7% pass rush win rate against the Giants, meaning they beat their block within 2.5 seconds on two-thirds of their rushes. According to ESPN Analytics/NFL Next Gen Stats, that was tied for the third-best by any team in Week 2 and is the team's highest rate in any game since Week 11 of the 2022 season.

That mark comes a week after the team had a pass rush win rate of 35% in Week 1, which was the sixth-lowest mark in the NFL that week.

"He elicits attention," McVay said. "He brings everybody up around him. And I didn't think it was by coincidence that the energy that we played with [tonight]. I thought really the defensive coaches did a great job with their game plan, but ultimately just elevating situations he's in and people that he's around and that's what the greats do and that's what he does."

While McVay pointed to Donald's energy as a difference-maker against the Giants, he also pointed to another big reason the Rams had better energy and execution in Week 2 than they did in their Week 1 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

"Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn," McVay said. "And sometimes you have a dumbass coach that makes travel plans that put you in a bad spot."