Why Rich Is Convinced Aaron Donald Will Return to the Rams This Season

Sean McVay went out of his way to say he does not have an answer on Aaron Donald. Rich listened to the whole thing and came away convinced the answer already exists.

McVay's version was careful and generous. Donald is going through a process, McVay said, and putting himself in a position to make a decision he has earned the right to make.

"He's very diligent. Anything that he does, he does all in," McVay said. "And so he's going through a very strict regimen and process that was similar to what he did when he played. See how his body responds and feels."

McVay then closed the door on speculation as politely as a coach can. "I genuinely do not have an answer on whether he is or isn't," he said. "If he feels good, then you guys know he's going to be ready to rock. But if not, he's earned the right. He doesn't owe us anything."

Rich heard that sound bite cold, without having tracked the weekend coverage, and his first reaction was a question nobody has a good answer to.

"Under what circumstances does Aaron Donald go through a process and he comes through it the same?" Rich asked.

That is the whole argument. The physical piece is not really in doubt, and Rich walked through why the mental piece does not hold up either. The only version of this where Donald backs out is the one where he shows up at the facility, envisions week 15 after a full training camp, and decides he does not want to put himself through it again. Which, as Rich pointed out, is the reason he stopped playing in the first place.

"Part of me just thinks going through the process and just deciding I'm going to go through a process means he's already decided," Rich said. "That may be an oversimplification and unfair, but just the decision that I'm going to go through the process is enough for me to figure he's handled the mental part already. And the family part already."

He also read something into the footage of Donald at the facility. This was not a case of a retired star dropping by, because Donald has been around before. This time it is confirmed as a process, and Rich does not believe anyone starts one they intend to walk away from.

TJ pushed back with the most human version of the counterargument, and it is not nothing.

"I just know how we feel after a week or two weeks of vacation and you have to go back to work. This guy's been on vacation for two years," TJ said. "And to mentally go back to work, that's a lot. Especially when the mental part and your work is so physical in nature and you got to kind of psych yourself up, especially playing his position, a car crash on every play."

Rich did not dismiss it. He conceded that a back or anything else balky can turn into doomsday at any point for anybody, even a man who, in Rich's phrasing, looks like an Avenger. But he kept landing in the same spot, and floated the simplest possible motive: one more year, Myles Garrett next to him, and a Super Bowl being played in Los Angeles.

Someone at the desk named the risk in all of this out loud. It feels like the room wants this more than Donald might. Rich did not really argue. He just noted it would be very cool for football.