Aaron Donald is on the Los Angeles Rams’ active roster after coming out of retirement, giving him a chance to play in the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers. There’s just one big hurdle: The game is in Australia.
At 35 years old with no training camp and minimal practice time, it may not be very easy for Donald to make that trip and play at a high level after a 16-hour flight. Sean McVay hasn’t ruled him out yet, but he also said there’s a chance Donald won’t play.
Todd Gurley thinks he will, and hopes he does.
“I think he will play. But I think it may be somewhat limited,” Gurley told Michael Duarte of the New York Post. “I think they’ll slowly ramp him back up. But I hope he plays, man, mostly for the international crowd. You have
a lot of people over there.”
Gurley played five seasons with Donald, starting in 2015 and ending in 2019 when the Rams released the star running back. He saw firsthand how unblockable Donald was throughout his career, and he thinks it’ll be much of the same in his return.
Gurley believes Donald is “going to go out there and dominate” after he “re-sparked that fire” in him.
He hasn’t seen anyone dominate after taking two years off from football, but if anyone can do it, Donald can.
“I haven’t seen anyone do it and be able to dominate,” Gurley said. “But if there is someone that can come back and do it and dominate, why wouldn’t it be the three-time Defensive Player of the Year alongside a two-time Defensive Player of the Year in Myles Garrett?”
The Rams are leaving for Australia on Wednesday, a full week later than the 49ers. So they’ll have to decide relatively soon whether he’s going to make the trip.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Todd Gurley thinks Aaron Donald will play Week 1 vs. 49ers in Australia
