LOS ANGELES — Aaron Donald worked out again for the Rams on Saturday, as the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year continued to mull whether he will come out of retirement to rejoin his old team. But Rams head coach Sean McVay remained mum on Monday about the meaning of the “tryout” designated on Sunday’s NFL transaction log for the 35-year-old former star defensive tackle.
“I’m not trying to be like, coy with it,” McVay said, adding that team personnel were present with team equipment, requiring the workout to be reported to the league. “It’s semantical. It’s part of his process that he’s going through. It just allows us to be able to use football equipment and it’s very similar to what the other workout was. … That was just another part of his process.”
Donald previously worked out with the Rams during their training camp at Loyola Marymount as the franchise readies for its season opener against the San Francisco 49ers in less than a month. In the meantime, the Rams will host the New Orleans Saints for a joint practice on Thursday before hosting the Saints in their second preseason game on Saturday at SoFi Stadium.
While defensive end Myles Garrett (knee) and wide receiver Puka Nacua (psoas) wouldn’t likely take a snap, or dress for that preseason game, both were non-participants and worked off to the side with trainers during Monday’s practice. McVay said Garrett and Nacua will return to practice “probably next week.”
“We want to make sure that it’s a return to performance, not just return to play,” McVay said. “Myles is doing a good job. He was out here moving around before. Puka still has some soreness there (in his psoas).”
On the injury front, the Rams received not-so-great news regarding third-round offensive line selection Keagen Trost and wide receiver Mario Williams, who both suffered hamstring injuries during the preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday.
McVay said that both Trost and Williams could be out for a “few weeks.”
Andersen making most of opportunity
If there was one Rams player outside of rookie quarterback Ty Simpson who could hang his hat on his preseason performance, look no further than undrafted safety Nick Andersen.
Flying across the field, and recording a pair of tackles during the first Chiefs drive of the game, Andersen tallied a team-high nine tackles to go with two passes defended and a tackle for loss. McVay highlighted the former Wake Forest standout – who led the Demon Deacons with 106 total tackles en route to First Team All-ACC honors – on Monday, saying that the rookie “flashed pretty consistently.”
Andersen said he has learned from teammates Kam Curl, Kamren Kinchens and Quentin Lake since his arrival, and his focus on Saturday was to “go out there, and play free.”
“We have great coaches here, and so just listening to all the words of advice and wisdom, and then obviously you have great veterans to learn from,” Andersen told the Southern California News Group. “Just cut it loose.”
The 5-foot-11 safety, who joked that every day in L.A. is “blue skies and sunny” was held out for part of practice Monday with a “banged up” shoulder, he said, but should be “full go” at practice on Tuesday. Andersen added that the coaching staff has been “valuable” to his experience with the Rams so far, as they do a great job of communicating and ask him what he sees during plays.
Andersen said he’s hoping to “continue to learn from the best, soak every single bit of knowledge.”
QB plan going forward
When it comes to how Stetson Bennett IV and first-round draft pick Simpson might split snaps during the rest of the preseason, McVay said it would be dependent on how the upcoming days in practice go. Bennett played two drives in the preseason opener before Simpson played the remaining reps.
“I have not made that decision yet, and I’d say genuinely that is the truth, and a large part of that decision will be predicated on what happens on Tuesday, and then a lot of it especially with what happens on Thursday (in the joint practice vs. the Saints),” McVay said. “I’m hopeful that we’re able to get as many reps as we did against Dallas.”
Extra points
Quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Davante Adams had planned rest days on Monday. … McVay said he felt that wide receiver Xavier Smith did well in punt return duties Saturday.