JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Week 7 has begun, and Aaron Donald‘s contract situation remains unchanged. The Los Angeles Rams‘ exceptional defensive tackle spent the entire summer holding out, an act of protest that caused him to miss the season opener, but he still hasn’t put pen to paper on a lucrative extension.
It isn’t something he’s willing to open up about.
“I’m just playing football right now,” Donald said after Wednesday’s practice at the University of North Florida. “That’s all I’m worrying about. I’m letting my agents handle that. I’m just playing football.”
The Rams have not given up on getting a long-term deal with Donald done before the end of this season, but there have been no signs that anything is remotely close.
One potential motivation for Donald’s reps at CAA could be to let others from his 2014 draft class set the market first, specifically Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack, the reigning defensive player of the year. Others, including receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Mike Evans, linebackers C.J. Mosley and Anthony Barr, and offensive lineman Zack Martin, could set a new precedent at their respective positions, too.
Donald was asked if he’s able to put a looming contract situation aside, and he spat out an answer before the question was even finished.
“I’m here now,” he said, “so my main focus is football.”
Donald is once again proving he should be the game’s highest-paid defensive player.
When it comes to pressuring the quarterback, the two-time first-team All-Pro is having his best season yet.
Even though he missed the first game, Donald leads all players, regardless of position, in quarterback pressures, with 36, according to numbers compiled by Pro Football Focus. Donald reached that total with 169 pass-rush snaps. The No. 2 guy on the list, Cardinals defensive end Chandler Jones, has three fewer pressures in 45 more pass-rush snaps.
Donald is one of only seven interior defenders with at least 20 pressures so far, and the runner-up, the 49ers’ DeForest Buckner, has only 29 pressures in 198 pass-rush snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
Donald isn’t just pressuring the quarterback better than anybody in the NFL; he’s pressuring the quarterback better than he ever has. His 36 pressures are his most through the first six weeks of a season, even though he has played in only five games. From 2014 to 2016, Donald had seven, 16 and 35 quarterback pressures through the first six weeks, respectively. He has only two sacks in 2017, but his impact goes well beyond that.
Not that he’s satisfied.
“I still want to make more plays, but you know it’s going to come,” Donald said. “You gotta keep playing, playing hard, continue to study, continue to get myself better, working on my technique, and it will come. Just gotta keep working.”
Donald doesn’t really stop working. Even while holding out, he put his body through grueling, 45-minute speed-and-agility drills multiple times each week, with weightlifting exercises right before and pass-rush drills immediately after. He’s also a master at watching film, with detailed notes that teammate Michael Brockers once compared to those of a mad scientist.
Rams first-year head coach Sean McVay caught Donald doing that last Thursday, at around 10 p.m. PT. The Rams had finished practice six hours earlier. The next day, they were set to leave on a 10-day trip to Jacksonville, Florida, and then London. But there was Donald’s car, all alone in a dark players’ parking lot. McVay walked into the defensive linemen’s room and spotted Donald analyzing film of how offensive linemen set on pass plays.
McVay smiled as he recounted that story.
“You walk away and say, ‘I’m sure glad that guy’s on my team.'”