By Stu Jackson, Therams.com
Those were Rams head coach Sean McVay’s words on Tuesday when asked about the status of defensive lineman Aaron Donald as Donald deals with a rib injury.
Donald doesn’t know when McVay began calling him that, but being the machine he is, he does know this: He will be ready to go for Saturday’s divisional round playoff game against the Packers in Green Bay. (1:35 p.m. PT, FOX).
“No pain,” Donald said during a video conference with reporters Wednesday. “I feel healthy.”
Donald sustained the rib injury with 10:04 remaining in the third quarter of last Saturday’s wild card game, and he said it was a result of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson fell on him and “the way my body twisted” as the play ended.
“At first it was just like, dang, you know? You didn’t know superman could get hurt,'” Rams defensive lineman Michael Brockers said, when asked about his reaction to Donald’s injury. “Stop playing, get up, you can breathe. Seeing him, he was like, ‘bruh, I don’t know,’ I was like, ‘Oh man, this is serious.'”
Donald initially went to the locker room but later returned to the Rams’ sideline. While he didn’t go back onto the field, Donald emphasized the injury wasn’t serious.
“Man, my damn side is just sore,” Donald said, when asked for specifics. “I’m good.”
The recently-named First Team All-Pro selection finished with three total tackles (two for loss), two sacks and three QB hits prior to exiting last week’s game. Given where his health is now, and with three days between now and the Rams’ next game, he feels he’ll be ready to go for this week’s game against the Packers.
“I ain’t going to go out there if I feel like I can’t help these guys win,” Donald said. “The way I’m feeling right now, and then it’s only Wednesday and we’ve got until Saturday, I’m not too worried about it.”
McVay said they planned to “rest him the whole week and be as smart as possible” with him. At the same time, “he was just in there getting a workout in the weight room,” McVay said, “and he looked like he’s feeling pretty good to me.”
Donald said he doesn’t know if he will wear any sort of protective gear around his ribs, but stressed that he’s healthy.
“All I can tell you right now is I feel good, I feel strong, and I’ll be ready come Saturday,” Donald said.
