Last we heard about Aaron Donald going to Australia, all we knew was the Los Angeles Rams were trying to “figure out” the recently retired defensive lineman’s status for Week 1.
Friday, Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters that Donald will be making the trip to Australia, though there was no confirmation on if Donald would play.
This can go one of two ways. If Donald is making that trip to Australia, then there’s a good chance he’s going to play. It’s hard to fathom a player making a trip like
that just to sit on the sidelines. Then again, Donald could want to just be with his teammates, and the coaches don’t want him to be rushed back. It could also be some gamesmanship from the Rams, getting the 49ers to prepare for Donald rather than assuming he won’t play Sunday.
The takeaway is that this doesn’t confirm whether Donald is playing. Obviously, if Donald wasn’t on the flight, it’s that’s another story—which would work to the 49ers’ advantage. That hasn’t happened.
The 49ers already took off for Australia this week. The Rams will be flying out a bit later. The two different travel plans for this odd situation will be a talking point leading up to Thursday and possibly after the game.
While it would be fortunate for the 49ers to not be playing against someone who has wrecked things for them more than once in a matter of seconds in a game, Donald hasn’t played a snap in two seasons. So even if he does play, we don’t know what version of Aaron Donald the world will be getting.
That said, fans would probably rather not even have that question answered in Week 1 and have Donald come back after the 49ers and Rams have played.
