LOS ANGELES — The incident occurred at a joint practice, not a game, so Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald is preparing for the season opener against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium.
On Aug. 25, a brawl erupted at joint practice with the Cincinnati Bengals. A video shows a helmet being swung. The video also shows Donald falling to the ground with a Bengals helmet in hand.
The NFL has jurisdiction over what occurs at games, but teams are responsible for disciplining actions at practices. Rams coach Sean McVay has said that Donald was disciplined internally but offered no other details.
On Monday, Donald answered questions from beat reporters for the first time since the brawl.
“I’m happy nobody got hurt in the practice and whatever but my main focus is Thursday night against Buffalo,” Donald said when asked what happened.
He acknowledged that swinging helmets could be a dangerous situation.
“For sure,” he said. “Everybody protected each other, everybody got out of the situation clean, healthy that’s what mattered.”
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said he has spoken with Donald.
“It’s making sure that we don’t cross the lines when it’s time, when the games come down,” Morris said.
Does swinging a helmet cross that line?
“You don’t want to swing a helmet ever just at anybody in general,” Morris said. “But there’s been some helmets ripped off at times.
“You never ever want to do those things. You don’t want to have that on your resume. You don’t want to have that on paper. You don’t want to have that on a look.
“But at the same time, those things happen in practices. They’re mistakes, they’re errors and they’re correctable.”
