Aaron Donald is Trending Toward a Monday Night Return, and the Bills Should Be Terrified
Sean McVay on Donald's status: 'That's the hope. I don’t want to pigeonhole, but yeah, that’s the direction that it looks like it’s trending in.'
Sean McVay gave the most coach-speak answer possible this week, but the translation is terrifying for the : is probably coming back.
When asked if his star defensive lineman would practice this week and play on Monday night, the head coach told reporters that it was "the hope" and the direction things are "trending in." In NFL coach translation, that means the bad man is lacing up his cleats.
The Rams are already riding high after grinding out a gritty 24-20 win over the . Proving they can survive a dogfight without their best player is a massive confidence boost. Now they get to drop a generational defensive tackle back into the middle of their defensive line.
Meanwhile, the Bills are limping into this Monday night matchup after dropping a weird 29-26 game to the . The absolute last thing an offensive line wants to see after a frustrating loss is number 99 lining up across from them under the primetime lights.
Oddsmakers and bettors are going to have to bake Donald's return into the line immediately. A healthy isn't just a standard roster upgrade. He is a one-man wrecking crew who alters game scripts, blows up totals, and makes opposing quarterbacks see ghosts.
We will get official practice reports later this week to confirm the progress, but should probably start game-planning for the worst. If Donald is back on the field Monday night, the ' margin for error officially drops to zero.