Aaron Donald has been back with the Rams for nearly a month after announcing his return on Aug. 30, mere hours before the final roster cuts deadline. He’s worked his way into football shape after training hard all summer, and on Monday night, he officially took the field for his first NFL game since January 2024.
It was expected that the Rams would keep Donald on a snap count against the Giants, limiting his workload early in the season to ensure he stays fresh and healthy for the long haul. And even though he didn’t play as much as he did in his prime, he was still impactful in his first game back.
He helped the Rams completely shut down the Giants in a 28-6 victory, their first win of the season. Donald finished with three tackles, one of which
went for a loss, and one pressure on the quarterback.
The Giants ran 55 plays and Donald was out there for 32 of them, so he was on the field fairly often. And it showed because he was drawing attention from opposing linemen like always, opening the door for the team’s other rushers to get after the quarterback.
According to Next Gen Stats, Donald was doubled on seven of his 32 snaps, 18 of which were as a pass rusher.
Aaron Donald's first night back (via @NextGenStats)
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) September 22, 2026
🔸32 snaps
🔸14 run saps (3 TKLs, 1 for loss)
🔸18 pass rush snaps (0.75s get off, LMFAO, third-fastest DT game this season)
🔸1 pressure (never had a game with zero pressures in NGS era, 2016-2026)
Needless to say, the Giants were paying extra attention to him – despite Donald joking on Friday that they wouldn’t need to double him.
“They ain’t worried about me, man,” he joked.
Blaine Grisak of SI noted that Donald was doubled on 39% of his pass-rush snaps, so when the Giants dropped back to pass, they made sure to get four hands on the three-time Defensive Player of the Year.
As impressive as he was on Monday night, he should be even better as the season goes on. He said after the game that the game wasn't moving as fast as he thought, and it was more about him getting his feet under him and not overrunning plays.
There's little doubt that this season, he'll be close to the player he once was, if not the same guy who left the NFL two-plus years ago.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: How did Aaron Donald play in his return to the Rams?
