Rams’ Aaron Donald wants to put the hurt on Packers

THOUSAND OAKS — Aaron Donald hasn’t missed a game because of injury in his NFL career with the Rams, and didn’t miss one in his college career at Pitt.

He doesn’t plan to start missing any now, with the Rams going into a second-round playoff game against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday at Lambeau Field.

After missing a chunk of the Rams’ victory over the Seattle Seahawks, the defensive tackle whom Coach Sean McVay has begun to call “the Terminator” says he’ll be back.

“I feel good, I feel strong, and I’ll be ready come Saturday,” Donald said Wednesday before practice.

If it’s all true, that’s great news for the Rams’ league-leading defense, which is getting ready to face the NFL’s highest-scoring offense, led by top-rated quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

But indications are that Donald’s ribs weren’t 100% 72 hours before the 1:35 p.m. (L.A. time) kickoff.

The Rams’ practice report listed him as a non-participant in practice for the second day in a row.

Coach Sean McVay said resting Donald is about being “smart” with him, same as the team is doing while waiting to see the status of quarterback John Wolford (neck), wide receiver Cooper Kupp (knee), left guard David Edwards (Achilles) and linebacker Terrell Lewis (ankle), all of whom were out of practice Wednesday.

“Unless something unforeseen happens, the Terminator will be ready,” McVay said Tuesday.

The Rams have been calling it simply a rib injury. Asked for specifics on Wednesday, Dr. Donald offered this diagnosis: “My damn side is sore. I’m good.”

He said he was able to work out in the Rams’ weight room and had “no pain.”

It wasn’t like that Saturday when Donald stayed down on a knee after hitting Russell Wilson as the Seahawks’ quarterback threw an incomplete pass in the third quarter of the Rams’ 30-20 victory. Donald clutched his right side, left the field and walked to the locker room with medical personnel. He returned to the sideline briefly but didn’t go back into the game.

Donald said Wilson fell on him, and he thought he had the wind knocked out of him.

“I was going to come back until they got that last touchdown,” Donald said of the Jared Goff-to-Robert Woods pass play that gave the Rams a 17-point lead with 4:46 to play. “That kind of put it away. It was ‘Let’s rest up for next week.’”

Donald, 29, has missed two games in his seven NFL seasons, both in 2017. He missed that year’s opener amid a contract holdout and was rested for the meaningless regular-season finale.

Seeing him injured was a shock to teammates.

“It was just like, dang! You didn’t know Superman could get hurt,” defensive end Michael Brockers said Wednesday.

The Rams will say something stronger than dang if Donald is impaired Saturday. There’s no replacing the franchise’s first six-time first-team All-Pro. That’s true even though the defense hung in there with him out, holding Seattle to a futile late touchdown, linebacker Leonard Floyd sacking Wilson twice, and defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson recording season highs for defensive snaps (33%) and tackles (four).

“We’re hoping that A.D. can go,” Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley said Tuesday. “But those guys know what Aaron Donald means to our defense, and that there’s a high (standard) that they have to live up to, that we all have to live up to. I thought that they did that in that last quarter and a half.”

Donald said he’s following the trainers’ program to get ready to play Saturday. He said he doesn’t know if he’ll wear special protection.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur would like to think Donald can’t play. But he isn’t getting his hopes up.

“He is a freak. He’s as good as they get. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime type player,” LaFleur said. “I assume he’ll be ready to go full speed ahead.”

NOTES

The Los Angeles chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America named Aaron Donald the Rams’ Most Valuable Player and gave defensive end Michael Brockers the Good Guy Award as the Rams player most helpful to writers doing their jobs this season. … Brockers played in the win at Seattle after missing a game on the COVID-19 list. He called the experience “nerve-wracking.” “You don’t know what to expect,” Brockers said Wednesday. “I woke up that morning feeling good. After they told me I had it, then I’m thinking, Oh, am I getting hot? Every little thing you felt like, you’re like, Is that the COVID?” He said he recovered after having “not really a lot of symptoms.” …

The Rams’ injury report listed quarterback Jared Goff (thumb) as a full participant in practice for the second day in a row on Wednesday. McVay hasn’t named a starter for Saturday’s game. … Andrew Whitworth was listed as “limited” in practice. McVay said the left tackle has “soreness” in his left knee after his first game in eight weeks. … McVay on the mid-season signing of kicker Matt Gay, who is 9 for 9 on field-goal attempts and 12 for 12 on extra-point attempts in the past five games: “It’s been huge. Man, he’s Mr. Automatic as of late. … He’s done a great job and it looks like we found our guy for a long time, really for the future.” … The high temperature on Wednesday in Thousand Oaks, where the Rams practiced: 75 degrees. The high in Green Bay: 39.

The Nets Traded a boat load to get Harden today.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...ston-rockets-trade-james-harden-brooklyn-nets

Oh man... love how he fucks with Metcalf

Eagles are also going to interview him.

The only team to shut down the Packers all year was Tampa Bay. And here's how they did it.
Eager to hear your thoughts.





Packers vs. Buccaneers score: Tampa Bay's defense rolls over Aaron Rodgers as Bucs claim first place in South
Tom Brady, meanwhile, threw two touchdowns on an uncharacteristically bad day for Rodgers
[IMG alt=" Cody Benjamin
"]https://sportshub.cbsistatic.com/i/r/2019/07/31/2451c0b3-1c13-4ee0-ab96-505b090902c3/thumbnail/80x80/cc224b7e45e6da0d8ed557621aa010aa/cody-benjamin-700.png[/IMG]

By Cody Benjamin

Oct 18, 2020 at 7:47 pm ET


The Green Bay Packers came into Sunday undefeated and with arguably one of the front-runners in the 2020 NFL MVP race in Aaron Rodgers. They will leave Sunday not only with a defeat, but a defeated performance from that MVP candidate, who also happened to lose his left tackle to an injury. Despite an early lead in Week 6, the Packers were ultimately no match for the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Sunday's clash of NFC contenders. Tom Brady threw two touchdowns. Rob Gronkowski finally emerged in the end zone. And Todd Bowles' defense dominated the day en route to a surprising 38-10 rout.
Here are some immediate takeaways from Sunday's big Buccaneers win:
Why the Buccaneers won
Todd Bowles knows how to coach defense! Tom Brady stole all the Bucs' headlines when he ended Tampa Bay's last outing with an embarrassing blunder, but Bowles and his unit completely stole the headlines back -- in all the best ways -- against Green Bay, rebounding from a slow first few drives to get after Aaron Rodgers, stay sticky in coverage and then, ultimately, get under Rodgers' skin. Pretty much everyone stepped up: Carlton Davis prompted a pick, Ndamukong Suh drove Rodgers into the dirt, and a unit that lost Vita Vea earlier in the year just found ways to push the pocket all day, finally forcing Green Bay to sit Rodgers on the bench out of preservation. On offense, Brady wasn't perfect, but he was certainly efficient, delivering perfect strikes to guys like Chris Godwin, Tyler Johnson and Rob Gronkowski to consistently keep the Bucs ahead. Ronald Jones may have deserved secondary game-ball honors, though, for a beautiful performance on the ground that iced the game away.
Why the Packers lost
There's no way to sugarcoat it: Aaron Rodgers, an unquestioned MVP candidate coming into this game, was off. And that's probably an understatement. Despite a smooth start that helped Green Bay jump out to a 10-0 lead, Rodgers was quickly fooled on back-to-back drives that completely swung momentum in Tampa Bay's favor. It's rare if Rodgers makes just one back-breaking mistake, but to have several of them come early in this contest was a killer. Losing left tackle David Bakhtiari late in the game didn't help, but by that point, Green Bay's O-line had already been torched by Todd Bowles' pass rush, with Rodgers repeatedly feeling the heat. The run game, meanwhile, was nonexistent other than an early Jamaal Williams scamper, with he and Aaron Jones both struggling to break through clogged holes; whereas the pass-catching corps somehow got less explosive with Davante Adams on the field. The Packers weren't much better on the other side of the ball, where stars like Jaire Alexander and Za'Darius Smith were uncharacteristically quiet when they were needed most.
Turning point
The Packers were up 10-0 after their first two drives, and Rodgers looked cool and confident as ever throwing into Tampa Bay's secondary. Then Jamel Dean perfectly read No. 12's eyes -- and Davante Adams' simple out route -- to pick off Green Bay's QB and return the ball 32 yards for the score. Brady hadn't looked particularly sharp at that point, so Dean's score didn't just halt the Packers offense; it completely flipped the script, took the pressure off Bruce Arians' offense and propelled Tampa Bay toward its high-scoring breakout.

Full Metal Jacket

I realized today while sifting through old Pm’s and Conversations on this site well one in particular from Rich roping me in a bit and welcoming me to the ROD family and showing me how this place was different that I have lost sight of what this place is all about and for that I would like to extend my sincere apologies. I have been overly defensive of Jared Goff and it has gotten me into way too many arguments and surely I have pissed off a bunch of you.

That being said, i’m done with the petty arguments and attacking posters and I’d like to get back to just discussing football with my bros.

Cheers y’all

Lord it's just Wednesday and I'm freaking Hyped.

Whit top 5 LT went down, we're in the Playoffs and when he can back off IR played top level. O and for some reason Corbett had a great game humm

O and Not The had a good game.
Goff got injured, we're in the Playoffs. A back-up none drated Qb helped to get us in what, The Playoffs.

Our Rb"s have been banged up like hell,we're in the Playoffs because IMHO these Rb"s give it their All.

Kupp man this Guy like Woods is just playing their hearts and soul out.

And even though the D had some questions, they're # 1.

The Momentum is Ours.

GO RAMS.

Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzh06WkpS-k


Am I the only one confused as to why McVay hasn't incorporated a package of plays for this kid?
He seems big enough to also contribute on special teams in some fashion. Is he not tough enough?

I'd get it if the offense was putting up points left and right, but he looks like a wasted potential weapon to me. Especially with the redzone struggles. At the very least give opponents something else to prepare for like the Saints do with Taysom Hill.

Also, Akers, a former QB, can throw the football pretty well. Are the Rams saving this gift for something?

While the playoff loss in 67 hurt it was the regular season game that turned me into a Ram fan. Watching the game as an 8yr old with my 2 older dickhead brothers, I was rooting for the Packers as I hadn't really chosen my team yet. Living in NY they were Giant fans and the Rams were losing and they kept busting my balls telling me that the Rams were going to win. Nice guys. In the end Rams blocked the punt and 2 plays later Gabriel to Casey sealed the win. That next Thursday my mom took me to the Dr as I was sick and sitting in the waiting room there was a Sports Illustrated sitting on the table. On the cover was Roman Gabriel and inside were pictures of the blocked punt and the TD. I looked at those colors and those helmuts and said thats my team. Been a die hard ever since. Grew up with a Roman Gabriel poster in Blue Unis on my wall and called myself Ramon Gabriel lol. Now I am just Ramon The Ram Fan.
Worst thing about playoff loss to Pack in 67 was back then they rotated hosting playoff games. We had the better record but had to play in cold GB which was terrible for us. Travis Williams returned a kickoff 103 yards and they killed us.

Ironically I tried to groom my son and his first real Ram game to watch with me was the OT loss to Carolina and Steve Smiths catch. Had we won that game I may have had him for life. Later he got into fantasy football and latched on to Aaron Rodgers and has been a Packer fan since.
Will be a fun day Saturday and I love my son but I desperately want another Ram win.


Western Conference Championship, 1967 season: Packers 28, Rams 7
A 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Roman Gabriel to flanker Bernie Casey was all the scoring the Rams could muster as the Packers advanced to their third-straight NFL championship – known in NFL history as the famed "ice bowl" against the Dallas Cowboys.
For the Packers, the win avenged a narrow 27-24 loss to the Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum two weeks earlier in which a blocked Green Bay punt set up L.A.'s game-winning touchdown pass from Gabriel to Casey.

Notable Rams-Packers games through the years

Ahead of Saturday's divisional round playoff game, theRams.com looks back on some notable Rams-Packers games in series history.

www.therams.com

Hello everyone. One thing that's starting to drive me batshit crazy are sport's videos on YouTube that are click bait. I normally click to read the first comment or I look at the number of dislikes to determine if I spend the time watching it. The norm is a like "Kurt Warner Goes Crazy After Rams Beat Seahawks." Of course I want click it and so I do and there is no Kurt Warner. Stephen A. Smith is another click bait figure and he's nowhere to be seen in the video. Misleading titles gets views and I urge everyone to dislike videos if they lie about the content in their titles. Alok Gaming TV is a click baiter. "Kurt Warner picks Aaron Rodgers & Packers over Los Angeles Rams Saturday," by Matheus Rodz (No Kurt Warner, just an interview with Torry Holt about a possible HOF selection).

Heard that twice today including brought up in McVays presser - I think he misses that to be honest.

Was wondering if anyone here has any issues sleeping and what they have found to help.

Since I was a small boy I have had issues sleeping. I've always woke up several times throughout the night. I would say no less than five and all the way up to 15-20 times.

I also struggle to fall asleep in a timely manner. I will lay there for an hour easy just letting my mind wind down.

Then, I have issues where I may wake up at 2-3am and stay awake for an hour or two or maybe til morning.

In my early 20's I would drink a two pack of niquil a week or 10 days. It helped. Ive taken benadryl...four of them knocks me out...but both of them make me groggy in the morning.

Recently I've switched to VitaFusion extra strength Melatonin. I take 4 of them and I find that I'm asleep after about 10-15 minutes of laying down. I still wake up frequently, but easily fall back to sleep. And when I wake up, I'm not groggy.

I still want to find something that keeps me down all night. Was wondering what may have worked for some of you. I don't drink or smoke, so those aren't options lol.

Full Explanation of injury and fixes

Login to view embedded media View: https://youtu.be/yfS99qwuow8

And changed the direction of the franchise for the better. Midweek celebrations are authorized and encouraged.

Hi Guys, i would like to know what you guys think, are we an Underdog-Team? I just found out, that only the Jaguars have less fans on Facebook.

So are the L.A. Rams a Underdog Team? Or are we not? If so, why not? Because we play in a big market city?

I may have missed it, but having him healthy and available feels like a big deal this weekend in the freezing cold of GB.

Per Kyle Brandt on GMFB, Rodgers has faced 7 All Pro CB's, IE lockdown Corners, in their All Pro year and hasn't come out well. Jalen Ramsey will be the next for Rodgers along with the rest of the Defense who will be right in Rodgers face all game. To be fair, Matt LaFleur will probably line Adams in the slot in order to keep him busy. Still, the above stat and the match-up of Adams v. Ramsey will be one of the most interesting match-ups this week end.

edit: Misnamed Green Bays best WR "Freeman, dammit!

Leonard Floyd latest first-round pass-rusher to be revived by Rams - Los Angeles Rams- ESPN


By Lindsey Thiry


THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- From first-round bust with the Chicago Bears to Super Bowl or bust with the Los Angeles Rams, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd is proof sometimes all a player needs is a fresh start.

In one season in L.A., Floyd has endeared himself to teammates while producing at a Pro Bowl level despite being a Pro Bowl snub.

"He's laid back, he's chill," Rams safety John Johnson III said. "He's just like a silent assassin."

Floyd's wreaked havoc on quarterbacks as a key contributor on the Rams' top-ranked defense, which shut down quarterback Russell Wilson and the NFC West champion Seattle Seahawks to advance to the divisional round of the playoffs, where they'll face Aaron Rodgers and the NFC top-seed Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Saturday (4:35 p.m. ET, Fox).

"He has done such a great job for us," Rams coach Sean McVay said. "He has been so steady, so consistent, so versatile."

Floyd has followed the template executed by Dante Fowler Jr. -- breaking out with the Rams after being a failed first-rounder elsewhere. Floyd, a lanky 6-foot-5, 240-pounds, tallied three multi-sack performances this year, finishing the regular season with a career-high 10.5 sacks and a hefty bonus check after surpassing the 10-sack mark in Week 17 to earn a $1.25 million contract incentive.

"Shout out to my teammates and coaching staff for believing in me and helping me along the way to get here," Floyd said after the regular-season finale.

"He's fit really well with our team and how we want to play," said defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, who coached Floyd for two seasons during a previous stop as the outside linebackers coach in Chicago.

The Bears selected Floyd with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2016 draft and exercised the fifth-year option on his rookie deal prior to the 2019 season. However, before the former Georgia standout reached his fifth season in Chicago, the Bears released him due to lack of production. In four seasons, he was unable to consistently pressure the quarterback, compiling only 18.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

At the urging of Staley, the Rams signed Floyd to a one-year, $10-million prove-it deal and he's excelled.

"Just being around a different group of guys and going out and playing with them is very different," said Floyd, who turned 28 this past September, "and I'm enjoying it."

Floyd plays on the edge of a Super Bowl-worthy defense that recorded 53 regular-season sacks (No. 2 in NFL) and includes two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers and Sebastian Joseph-Day along the defensive line. He lines up opposite of a linebacker rotation that includes Justin Hollins, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Samson Ebukam.

"He's football smart," said Donald, who went on to explain Floyd's rush moves and how he works in tandem with Floyd. "Having the ability to do that and work with a guy that understands football and knows how to play off guys, it's been huge for us."

Floyd established himself with his first multi-sack performance of the season in a Week 7 win over the Bears, which was far from a coincidence, as he admitted before the game he felt more energy and motivation facing his former team.

"It was kind of emotional," Floyd said after the revenge performance, clutching a game ball. "But I tried not to get too far into the emotional side of it."

The other multi-sack performances came against the Seahawks, as Floyd has single-handedly destroyed Wilson. Floyd sacked the eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback a combined five times in their regular-season matchups (three in Week 10, two in Week 16), then took Wilson down twice more when the Rams ended the Seahawks' season 30-20 in Saturday's wild-card playoff game

Staley acknowledged the presence of Donald -- who has drawn a league-high 327 doubles teams on pass rushes -- makes each defensive player more productive.

Fowler experienced a similar revival when he joined the Rams for one and a half seasons before earning a free agent payday with the Atlanta Falcons. But Staley was adamant Floyd's breakthrough season stands on its own.

"He's playing as well as I've ever seen him play," Staley said. "I think he's become the best version of himself."

Said Donald: "He's been productive."

The only question that remains is whether the Rams will be able to afford to keep Floyd around, with his contract set to expire following the season.

"We would like to," McVay said. "The answer is absolutely yes."

Excited and nervous for the game Saturday. I predict this game will be 30-24 that could go either way. Much love and respect to you guys. If we lose I know I’ll be heartbroken and ecastic if we win. I’ll root for the winner of this game against Brady and I cannot stand the Saints. I have a question, did you guys root for us in all those years we played SF in the playoffs or Seattle? I was your biggest fan in those Superbowls when you played the Patriots.

Just read where the Packers just signed OL Jared Veldheer (Spelling?) even though he just played for the Colts this past Saturday. Seems pretty strange to me! How much do you think he can help the Packers?

In the video this morning he was asked what they could do to simulate conditions.

How about moving to a place that lets them practice in cold weather? Is that any different than staying on the east coast for back to back games?

Being reported by Tom Pelissero.

Where to start?

Packers have an elite O and Rams have an elite D, right?

Irresistible force meeting immovable object kinda thing?

Needless to say, this should be interesting. Big plays on both units are virtually certain to occur and entertain us.

My admittedly biased take? I suspect (but don’t guarantee) that Staley will have packages and schemes that will frustrate Rodgers. And I mean a lot.

Meanwhile, Staley will have a pass rush, hopefully from just 4 guys, that give Rodgers precious little time to go through progressions.

If this unfolds I think the Rams win going away via turnovers and TOP. Goff will then have the luxury of handing off to Akers and getting the occasional pass completion on fairly safe throws.

So, I guess what I’m saying is that this game doesn’t hinge upon which QB starts at all. It 80% depends on this elite Ram D and having an effective running game. Rams win. Who’s next? Lol.

After making the game clinching int against the titans, ex ram Marcus Peters leads his mates in sending a message to the Titans by showing out on top of the titan logo. What a tool, sure be excited that play sealed the game but all that jumping up and down on the logo is just juvenile, besides, guys on the other side file that shit away, just ask Jared.