NFL Media Members Call for Aaron Donald Suspension After Bengals Fight
The Rams–Bengals joint practice on Thursday resulted in a major fight on the field.
During the on-field scuffle, three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald was seen swinging a helmet towards the Bengals team.
This action normally results in some sort of punishment during the regular season. So, some professionals in the NFL world began questioning if Donald should receive a suspension for his action during training camp.
NFL Network’s Judy Battista referenced the situation involving Browns defensive end Myles Garrett from 2019 in which he received an indefinite suspension for swinging a helmet during a game. The suspension ended up being for six games. The columnist noted the “only difference” between Garrett’s situation and Donald’s is that the Rams defensive tackle’s action occurred during the preseason.
Myles Garrett missed the final 6 games of the 2019 season as part of an indefinite suspension for swinging a helmet during a game. The NFL has not been in the business of policing joint practices the way they do games, but that's the only difference from Aaron Donald today.
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) August 25, 2022
Another note that Battista and other NFL media members noted is that the NFL does not police the joint practices in the preseason in the same way that they do during regular season games. If there’s a difference in the punishment decision, that could be one reason why Donald could receive a less severe punishment.
Myles Garrett's helmet swing came in a nationally televised game. Aaron Donald's came in a joint practice. That's the only difference. The NFL has never gotten involved in legislating joint practices, but they need to before someone gets seriously injured. https://t.co/SoXjwTXJNf
— Charean Williams (@NFLCharean) August 25, 2022
The general consensus for the NFL media world, though, is that Donald will most likely be handed an indefinite suspension for his action.
Indefinite suspension has to he coming for Aaron Donald, right? https://t.co/OU35YZlw6r
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) August 25, 2022
seems to happen with him a ton
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 25, 2022
if Myles Garrett got an indefinite suspension for swinging Rudolph's helmet (which ultimately became 6 games)...
the NFL should be suspending Aaron Donald for some amount of time IMO because this is absolutely recklesshttps://t.co/fDOc4YEKEE
I love Aaron Donald but this is grounds for a suspension https://t.co/j3dzTbRdRp
— Antwan V. Staley (@antwanstaley) August 25, 2022
Myles Garrett got a 6-game suspension when he did the same thing. My guess is Aaron Donald will get at least 2-3, unfortunately.
— Sosa Kremenjas (@QBsMVP) August 25, 2022
The NFL has not officially responded to Donald’s swinging of the helmet yet.
More NFL Coverage: