The Rams and Packers haven’t played since 2018, but Los Angeles’ Aaron Donald is plenty familiar with his upcoming opposing quarterback.
The defensive tackle, who head coach Sean McVay is now referring to as “The Terminator,” has faced Aaron Rodgers twice. In that 2018 matchup, Donald sacked Aaron Rodgers twice, had four total QB hits, and had a pair of tackles for loss in the Rams’ 29-27 victory over the Packers.
That year, Green Bay finished 6-9-1 and fired Mike McCarthy after a 4-7-1 start. In 2020, the Packers ended the regular season 13-3 and Rodgers is the frontrunner to win MVP after leading the league with 48 touchdown passes.
“He’s a great quarterback that’s playing lights out this year,” Donald said in his Wednesday press conference. “He’s making some great throws and good decisions. Obviously, he can do things with his feet, not the fastest guy, but he can move. He can get away from you and make things happen, so we have to do a great job as far as bottling him up, getting pressure on him, and not letting him have a clean pocket to the point where he can make all those great throws. So, we have a challenge, but that’s what you expect in a playoff game.”
Donald suffered an injury to what he called his “damn side” in last Saturday’s victory over the Seahawks, but says he isn’t feeling pain and will be fine to play this weekend. The Rams will likely need him to help slow down Green Bay’s explosive offense.