Tag: Aaron Donald

Von Miller cried tears of joy about joining Aaron Donald in LA

Von Miller cried a lot after being traded by the Broncos, and some of those tears were tears of joy about joining Aaron Donald.

Von Miller admitted in his first Rams press conference that he’s “such a sentimental guy.” He felt a lot of emotions after learning that the Broncos traded him to the Rams, both good and bad. He was sad to be leaving the team and city he spent the last 11 years of his life with but also saw the positives of joining a team that has Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and Leonard Floyd.

He cried “a lot” on Monday when the trade happened and some of those tears were tears of joy because he was teaming up with Donald in L.A.

“I cried a lot on Monday, but all the tears weren’t sad. I had tears of joy too because I’m coming here to play with Aaron Donald. It was amazing,” Miller said. “I’ve been familiar with Aaron. He came to a pass-rush summit. You watch film each and every week, you watch all the highlights in the sack reels, and you see him just going crazy. These guys triple team him. I’ve been getting triple teamed for the last 10 years. That’s six people right there. And we still got Leonard Floyd and all the other guys. So, it’s going to be fun.”

The Rams are always searching for ways to make life easier for Donald, considering how often he’s doubled and tripled by opponents. The addition of Floyd helped this year and last, but bringing in a future Hall of Famer like Miller should free up all three of them to have more one-on-one opportunities.

“I feel like it frees up us all. I’m sure they’ll figure out creative ways to try to triple team and double team and chip but it can’t possibly be that effective,” Miller said. “We got great coaches, we got great guys playing on his team and we’ll be able to figure it out. They’ve already been with it, we are first in sacks on defense already and add me to that team, I feel like I could add and help out some of these guys for sure.”

Even though Miller has never been teammates with Donald and the Broncos only faced the Rams once every four years, the two know each other from the Miller’s pass-rush summit, as well as their interactions on social media.

Miller is an outstanding pass rusher in his own right, but even he is blown away by how good Donald is and the moves that he comes up with.

“The pass-rush summit is a great place because you can sit down, and you can watch film, and we can go over plays, and it’s actually the guy that is doing this stuff. What stuck out for me with Aaron is just the stuff that he was doing,” Miller said. “Like, there is no move for it. You really couldn’t put it into words. I think he created like this power pop. He was just bullying the guy and moving him out the way. I was just blown away by his strength, and his knowledge of the game, and some of the stuff he does it just can’t be done. We had veterans there. We had guys that had retired and came back to contribute to the pass-rush summit. You look at Aaron and some of this stuff you just can’t put it into words and some of the stuff it just can be done. It’s such an honor and a privilege to be his teammate, to be all of these guys’ teammates, man. I’m going to earn their respect each and every day, each and every game, man. And I’m excited to be here. It’s going to be a good one.”

Miller is expected to make his Rams debut this week against the Titans but it may not be in a full capacity as he continues to get up to speed. But once he gets completely acclimated in the Rams defense, this is going to be a unit that no offense wants to face.

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Aaron Donald had a great reaction to the Von Miller trade

Aaron Donald seems to love the Rams’ addition of Von Miller, reacting with a perfect GIF.

Aaron Donald has no trouble generating pressure and impacting the game on his own, but he surely wouldn’t mind some additional pass-rush help. The more players the Rams have who can get after the quarterback the better they’ll be.

That’s why he seems so excited about the Rams acquiring Von Miller from the Broncos on Monday. Donald reacted to the news on Twitter with a simple tweet that included a GIF of himself getting ready on the sideline with a big smile on his face.

It’s scary to think the Rams’ defensive front now features Donald, Miller, Leonard Floyd and Sebastian Joseph-Day, as well as Justin Hollins when he returns from injured reserve toward the end of the season.

That’s about as good as it gets.

The Rams’ trade with the Broncos for Von Miller gives them a terrifyingly talented defense

Prayers up for everyone playing against the Rams.

The Rams scoff at these so-called “draft picks.”

Ever since Sean McVay was hired by the Rams to be their head coach, they’ve consistently traded away draft picks for proven veterans that can immediately make the difference towards a title run. Jalen Ramsey, Matthew Stafford, Brandin Cooks and now Von Miller have all been acquired via trading away premium draft picks. It’s an unusual strategy, but it’s certainly been working for McVay and general manager Les Snead.

Now, as the Rams gear up for another Super Bowl run behind the best offense in the league, they have arguably the best trio of defenders on the other side of the ball to help them close out games.

Aaron Donald. Jalen Ramsey. Von Miller.

The Rams are coming off of a year where they had comfortably the best defense in the league with a scheme that was centered around Donald and Ramsey and now they have Miller. Miller has looked as good as he has in the past this season, racking up 4.5 sacks in just seven games.

Miller’s addition creates a whole new world of problems for teams that are faced with the unfortunate task of having to play the Rams. Leonard Floyd moves into a role where he is now the third most dangerous pass rusher the Rams have instead of the second. Players like Floyd and Dante Fowler Jr. have benefited heavily from playing with Donald in the past.

This is no slight to Floyd and Fowler, who are more than capable players in their own rights, but neither of them are Miller. Miller is future Hall of Famer, one of the few players in NFL history to cross the elusive 100-sack barrier in his career.

Donald and Miller on the same side of the defensive line is a total nightmare for opposing defenses. Donald is still likely to get the majority of the attention in pass protection, leaving more one-on-one opportunities for Miller. It’s hard for offenses to logistically double team Donald and Miller without leaving themselves open to poor blocking situations against Floyd and other Rams.

Teams that do decide to leave in extra blockers will likely find it difficult to generate consistent offense. More blockers means fewer receivers running routes, which means easier matchups for the best cornerback in the league in Ramsey. Trading for Miller is more than just a last second acquisition for a team at the deadline, it also creates a math problem that’s hard to solve on gamedays.

The Rams have created a defense that perfectly complements their high-powered offense. Once Stafford and the Rams offense start pouring the points on, Donald and Miller will get to pin their ears back in increasingly obvious passing game situations — with Ramsey hawking for errant throws behind them. All for the price of a second and third round pick.

Good luck to everyone playing against the Rams this year, life just got a lot harder.

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What Von Miller brings to the Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams have swung a trade for Von Miller. Here is what he offers, and how he fits in with the Rams defense.

When the NFL and the NFLPA agreed to move the trade deadline back a few weeks, there were hopes that the later deadline would lead to perhaps some big deals, similar to what we see from other professional leagues.

Today might have been the kind of moment the parties had in mind.

According to Adam Schefter, the Denver Broncos are trading pass rusher Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams, in exchange for a pair of draft picks on the second day of the 2022 NFL draft:

Shefter later provided some of the terms:

The fact that Denver is paying a large portion of Miller’s remaining salary is likely due to the fact that the pass rusher was set to hit free agency in the spring, and the Broncos were not expecting to retain him. As such, they will add a pair of draft picks and get something in return. Plus, that helps the Rams fit Miller in under their current available cap space.

But what does Miller add to the Rams? Well, now he slides into a defense that has Aaron Donald in the interior, Leonard Floyd on the other side and players like Jalen Ramsey prowling in the secondary. We’ll look at what Miller has left in the tank, and how he fits into the Rams defense.

 

 

Watch: Aaron Donald and the Rams had a Nerf battle in the locker room

Aaron Donald wreaked havoc in the Rams locker room with a massive Nerf gun.

The Rams sure seem loose heading into Sunday’s game against the Texans, which is a good sign for a team that’s expected to win fairly easily. On Friday before heading out to Houston, the Rams had a Nerf war in the locker room and at the center of it all was none other than Aaron Donald.

The all-world pass rush went to war with an automatic Nerf gun strapped around his shoulder unleashing a rain of foam bullets on the rest of the guys in the locker room. He posted a video from the battle on Instagram, writing, “Reigning @nerf wars champ whether I’m at home or the facility 💪🏽🤟🏽😎”

Donald is terrifying on the field, but he looked pretty dangerous with that massive Nerf gun on him, too.

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Behind Enemy Lines: Previewing Week 8 with Rams Wire

The Houston Texans take on the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8. The Rams Wire helps preview the matchup between Los Angeles and Houston.

The Houston Texans seek to snap their six-game losing streak, but they will have to go through the Los Angeles Rams in order to do so.

The Rams aren’t exactly pushovers. If anything, they could be energized after seeing their division’s leader, the Arizona Cardinals, who were 7-0 to start the week, take a loss on Thursday Night Football.

Houston will be going with Davis Mills as their starting quarterback for the sixth straight week as starter Tyrod Taylor isn’t healthy enough to start.

To preview Week 8 and give a glimpse inside Los Angeles, Cam DaSilva from the Rams Wire helps provide a preview.

Aaron Donald already has Texans’ attention ahead of Week 8 matchup

David Culley made it clear that the Texans won’t let Aaron Donald wreck their game plan on Sunday.

Aaron Donald is capable of single-handedly wrecking a game on defense, but the Houston Texans don’t want that to be the case in Week 8. With the Texans preparing to line up against the All-Pro defensive tackle, David Culley informed everyone that Donald will garner a ton of attention from the offensive line of the Texans.

He told reporters Wednesday that the Texans aren’t going to let Donald wreck their game plan.

Whenever teams begin game-planning for an upcoming game against the Rams, you have to think the first thing they do is discuss how they want to block No. 99. It’s easier said than done as Donald is still able to wreak havoc on opposing offenses, even when he’s being blocked by multiple guys right off the bat.

At this point of his career, Donald probably doesn’t know what it’s like to be blocked by one guy anymore. Donald has accumulated 89 sacks in his eight seasons in the NFL, becoming the all-time sacks leader for the Rams earlier this month.

The offense of the Texans has been an absolute mess this season, scoring only 13.9 points per game (31st in the NFL). In four out of their past five games, Houston has posted nine or fewer points on the scoreboard.

The good news for the Texans is that Tyrod Taylor was designated to return from injured reserve and has a chance to play in Week 8 versus the Rams. The bad news is that regardless of whether it is Taylor or Davis Mills, they’ll have to keep tabs of where Donald is at all times.

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Sean McVay pleased with how Rams defense has performed thus far

The Rams defense has delighted Sean McVay with how they have performed in the first seven weeks, despite some outside criticism.

The defense of the Los Angeles Rams was a primary focus during the offseason due to Raheem Morris replacing Brandon Staley as the defensive coordinator. Through the first seven weeks, it’s safe to say that Sean McVay is liking what he’s seeing from the defense thus far.

“Each game’s a little bit different narrative. I thought they did a good job yesterday. I thought there was a couple of loose yards that they got in the run game, but I do think you got to give credit to (D’Andre) Swift and (Jamaal) Williams are two really tough physical backs,” McVay said Monday. “I thought they leveled some runs off and they caught us in the one third down on a blitz. It’s an excellent call right there. That’s one of those deals where you say, ‘Hats off to them,’ on the first long touchdown. But I thought we made our plays when we had to and I think through seven games, I think they’re really opportunistic. I think we’ve got some special players that elevate everybody around them. When you talk about Aaron (Donald) and Jalen (Ramsey), I think Leonard Floyd’s played like that as well.”

It was a slow start for the Rams in Week 7 versus the Detroit Lions, falling to a 10-0 deficit in the first quarter. Following a 63-yard screen pass to D’Andre Swift that went for a touchdown on the first drive, Los Angeles held the Lions to four field goals for the rest of the contest.

McVay name-dropped Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and Leonard Floyd as guys who are playing at elite levels right now. Along with those guys, McVay has been impressed with the growth of other players like Sebastian Joseph-Day, A’Shawn Robinson, and Terrell Lewis.

“I think you’re seeing guys really continue to get better. I think you look at Sebastian Joseph-Day taking steps in the right direction. I’ve been pleased with A’Shawn. It’s been good to see Terrell Lewis healthy. A lot of guys on the back end that are making big-time contributions, but I think they’ve done a really nice job. There’s always things that we can improve on, but overall I’m pleased with them,” McVay said.

You would think the Rams have one of the worst defensive units in the NFL if you were to check Twitter. But in the first seven weeks, Los Angeles boasts the No. 4 ranked defense in Football Outsiders’ DVOA. As the Rams prepare to go up against the Houston Texans in Week 8, McVay is happy to see where his defense is currently at.

Aaron Donald has been texting Jared Goff: ‘I told him I’m gonna come after him’

Aaron Donald shared that he exchanged texts with Jared Goff, telling the Lions QB to “get ready.”

Aaron Donald has terrorized the Detroit Lions in his legendary career, logging six sacks in three meetings against them, which is the most he has against a team that isn’t in the NFC West. While Donald gets an opportunity to line up across from the Lions in Week 7, he’ll be chasing down a familiar face in Jared Goff, who is now the quarterback in Detroit.

In a conversation with the media about the upcoming game, Donald revealed that he has spoken to Goff through texts leading up to this matchup.

“It’s going to be fun. There is competition, opportunity to just make a play,” Donald said. “I been texting him this week, just cracking jokes here and there. We are going to do our job and get after him and try to have some successes.”

Goff and Donald were teammates from 2016-2020, helping the Rams advance to the Super Bowl in 2018. But with Goff failing to grow alongside Sean McVay, Los Angeles elected to send Goff to the Lions in exchange for Matthew Stafford.

Donald had opportunities to face Goff in practices, but he’s never gotten a chance to legitimately sack his former quarterback. That will change on Sunday when the Rams take on a winless Lions squad that is led by Goff.

When asked about whether or not it will be awkward to play against Goff, Donald made it clear that he won’t be holding back when the game kicks off.

“Nah, it ain’t gonna be weird at all. I told him, get ready. I told him I’m gonna come after him,” Donald said. “So, he knows what it is. But I’m going to go out there, fly around, trying to make my plays when they present themselves. Hopefully, I get to him a couple of times.”

Through the first six weeks, Donald has recorded 3.5 sacks, five tackles for loss, and one forced fumble. Goff may have a tough time going to sleep the night before Sunday’s anticipated matchup knowing that No. 99 will be chasing him around all game.

Watch: Aaron Donald beat Giants’ double team in a split-second

Even double teams are no match for Aaron Donald. He split this one with ease.

If you want to slow down Aaron Donald, you’ll need to throw more than two blockers at him. The Giants learned that in the first quarter of Sunday’s game when he split their double team with absolute ease.

Seriously, it’s scary how quickly he broke through the line and made the tackle on the running back. Right as the ball was snapped, he split the two blockers and snuck into the backfield for a big stop.

It’s been said countless times before, but a man that big shouldn’t be able to move that quickly. It’s why he’s the best defender in the NFL.