The Rams haven’t been in this position since 2016. They’re two games below .500, the first time in the Sean McVay era. At 3-5, they’re in desperate need of a win against the Cardinals this weekend to avoid falling to 3-6 and in last place in the division.
There’s growing frustration within the Rams’ building, particularly after their 16-13 loss to the Buccaneers in Week 9. Jalen Ramsey voiced his anger and frustration, but he’s not the only one feeling that way.
Aaron Donald spoke about his frustration on Thursday and said he knows the Rams aren’t out of the playoff race, but they need to start winning.
“Well, as a competitor, nobody likes to lose. After a while, you get kind of fed up with it and sometimes things need to be said, guys need to hear certain things,” Donald said. “I don’t think it’s anything personal, I just think it’s trying to motivate everybody to get on the same page to try to win games. Like I said, we got a lot of football left. We’re still in it, we’re not out of it, so everybody’s got to have that mindset that we still have the opportunity to get to where we’re trying to get to. Obviously, we got to get better, we got to play better as a team. So we just got to keep working and guys that feel like they’re not doing enough, do more, and guys that’re doing enough, keep working and let’s do more. So that’s what it comes down to, just trying to do everything we can to be successful because obviously, my main purpose of playing football is to win. I’m going to do everything in my power to motivate the guys around me, try to motivate myself to continue to do that because like I said, we’re still alive.”
The Rams’ next four games are their most important because if they just go 2-2 in that stretch, they’ll be sitting at 5-7, potentially making their last five games must-win. After facing the Cardinals this weekend, they’ll go up against the Saints, Chiefs and Seahawks.
Donald feels a heightened sense of urgency, but he’s confident the Rams have the right people in the building to get back on track.
“We don’t have too much more room to keep losing now,” he said. “Now it’s trying to find a way to try to go on a run and go week-to-week and just keep trying to stack up some wins. But at the end of the day, it’s a tough league but I believe that we got the coaches and the players in this organization to get it done. We just got to get back in the groove of things and try to find ways to be consistent and try to find ways to win.”
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