Aaron Donald welcomed Tua Tagovailoa to the NFL fairly quickly in his first career start, knocking the ball out of the rookie’s hand for a strip-sack on just the second play. However, he didn’t formally introduce himself to Tagovailoa.
In a new mic’d up video from the NFL, Tagovailoa was wired for sound during Sunday’s game between the Rams and Dolphins. He could be heard talking to DeVante Parker on the sideline, saying Donald wouldn’t talk to him when he tried to say hi.
“Aaron Donald, he don’t talk!” Tagovailoa said.
“You tried to talk to him?” a teammate replied.
“Nah, I tried to say what’s up? He don’t like me.” Tua said.
— nfldovkleiman (@nfldov) November 5, 2020
Donald is known for being ultra-focused on the field, both in warmups and especially when the game kicks off. Cameras caught him hyping himself up before Super Bowl LIII, and it says a lot about his mindset.
Does this seem like someone who wants to make small talk with a rookie?
How does the DPOY get ready before a big game?@AaronDonald97 #NFLMicdUp | @RamsNFL pic.twitter.com/8AgSc12A8D
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) February 6, 2019