Los Angeles Rams Transcripts - Aaron Donald

Defensive Tackle Aaron Donald

(On how it has felt over the two days of joint practices)
“It's been good. It was good work. Not too much stuff, but obviously football is
football. You're going to have those days when (it’s) a little chippy but it comes
with it. But it was a good day's work.

(On if he had any tips for RB Cam Akers’ form after yesterday’s fight)
“I didn’t even see it. I just saw it all go out, but I didn’t see what really
happened, so I didn’t even get to see… who won? I was asking both of them. I
had them together. I was like, ‘Who won? ‘I won, I won.’ I’m like, ‘I don't know. I
don't know. I'm going to say it's a tie. I'm going to say it's a tie.’”

(On the type of work he is looking to get out of joint practices)
“Obviously just like any other day of practice, you're going to get the slide
protection so you getting it different here, little over slide with a two-hand
puncher now, so trying to work different things to get off that and then a center
clamp. And so it's good to watch, try to practice against, try to find ways to
defeat it. Got to watch the film and see what I got to do better. But it isn’t
anything but to get you better at the end of the day, so just like any other
practice, you just work, try to work what you can work, obviously you’re going to
get different looks, different things and you just try to find ways to clean up and
get better.”

(On if the slide protections are what he expects to see this year)
“Well, I’ve been getting that pretty much most of my career so you know what’s
going to come. Just working it, practicing, preparing for it and try to find ways to
do what I can to try to be productive.”

(On if there’s anything with the slide protections that he hasn’t seen
before in his career)
“I’ve pretty much seen it all from the tackle choking down, closing the B gap up
with a hard over slide with the guard, with the center running down, so I've seen
it all. Just got to keep working, try to find ways to do certain things to get off it.”

(On what he saw from the younger guys against the Chargers and what
he wants to see against the Raiders)
“You’ve seen some good stuff, obviously some bad stuff. I think there was
some good knock backs at times, and just getting off blocks. I think that was a
big thing that we didn't do up front in the preseason game. So just want to keep
seeing guys getting better, being more productive in the game. Seeing what I
see when it comes to practice, how they play and making plays and being
productive. I just want to see that come game time. But again, it's a process,
still got time, getting a little close but we just got to keep working.”

(On if resources are out there to help guys work on their hands and
technical movements)
“Well, you could do it at home if you want, but obviously just studying yourself,
watching film, trying to find ways to see how guys are blocking you because in
the NFL, guys hold a lot. Obviously inside hands is not considered holding, but
trying to find ways to be aggressive with your hands and rip off violently. So just
studying that, when we’re doing walkthrough stuff practicing it, never taking
nothing for granted. So it's stuff that I still need to work on too to this day, so
continue to just work and tune up the little things.”


(On if the defensive linemen are more engaged with him during the game
than in practice)
“I would say yeah because they ask me a lot more questions come the game
because obviously I'm out there and I get to watch and I'm trying to help them
see things that I'm seeing and trying to see what I can tell them that they can
do to get off a block a little better or how the offensive lineman is set and help
them rush a little better. So they tend to ask me a lot more questions during the
game on the sidelines, or they did last week at least. So you get questions here
and there during practice, but I felt like during the preseason games I got a lot
more questions from the guys and I was trying to watch as much as I can. It’s
hard to try to watch the whole D-line because you trying to focus on one guy
then you're trying to focus on a lot of other stuff, but just trying to do what I can
and continue to help him and tell them what I can tell him to help them be
productive.”

(On if he measures himself on where he is now or where he needs to be)
“Always, I feel like I’m not where I want to be, but I feel like I'm getting better
obviously. I did some good things today. I did some things that I didn't like. Me
personally, I didn't think I had the type of practice that I wanted to, so I just got
to watch the film and see what I did wrong or see what I need to do better. I'm
always my worst critic, just got to continue to study, continue trying to find ways
to be better.”

(On whether or not he does boxing or striking combat to help improve his
hands)
“Not boxing, but I do certain things with my hands and to work different things
and reaction things and how to break down, pinpoint guys arms and things like
that, so yeah.”

(On whether or not he would ever want to call plays during a preseason
game)
“No, I don't want to make no calls. I’d do some calls for the guys up front come
pass rush, but that's about it for me, so that's it.”