Aaron Donald moving on from Seahawks scuffle, learned from mistake
Cameron DaSilva
[
theramswire.usatoday.com]
Every time the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams meet, the passion meter gets turned up a notch. These are two teams that don’t particularly care for each other, battling it out twice a season.
On Sunday, tempers flared even more than normal. It was chippy throughout, but the frustration on both sides came to a head in the fourth quarter, specifically on the Seahawks’ final drive. Justin Britt shoved Aaron Donald to the ground well out of bounds, causing the defensive tackle to retaliate by grabbing the Seahawk’s facemask.
Both players were flagged and the drive continued, but that wasn’t the end of it. After the game, Donald took off his pads and strapped on his helmet before confronting Britt during the post-game pleasantries.
On Friday, Donald was asked what happened after the game and it’s safe to say he didn’t have much interest in talking about it. In Bill Belichick-type fashion, he’s on to Kansas City.
“That was last week. We’re trying to get ready for the Chiefs,” Donald said. “Coach talked to us and that’s the past so we’re moving on and we’ve gotta be better. I just gotta control my temper. I just gotta be better. … You’ve gotta be smarter with the game. Can’t hurt your team.”
Donald said he’s unsure if he’s being fined for his actions and doesn’t know if he will be at some point. “I hope not,” he said.
This week, Sean McVay seemed to suggest the Seahawks were doing some things on the field to antagonize Donald. That was obvious when Britt shoved the defensive tackle late out of bounds, but there may have been some other instances that went unnoticed.
Donald wouldn’t say exactly what was going on but hopes the league takes notice of what Seattle was doing.
“That’s the past now, it is what it is. I don’t want to keep talking about last week because I’m trying to get ready for this week. They did a lot of things, but hopefully they picked it up in the NFL and saw what they were doing,” Donald said.
McVay wants to make sure that the Rams respond better to frustration better in the future so that teams don’t try to draw flags by riling up his players. The Seahawks did plenty of that on Sunday with the Rams being called for five personal fouls, struggling to control their temper in a heated game.
Donald isn’t worried about that happening and has learned from his mistake.
“They ain’t going to get under my skin because that’s the past and I learned from it,” Donald said. “I think everybody learned. We all saw it, we all were involved with it so we understand what we need to do to be better.”
