'You Need Everybody': Rams' Aaron Donald Reflects on 'Big Shock'

Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald delivered his full thoughts on the team's disappointing 2022 campaign, highlighted by his biggest takeaways and reasons for optimism entering this season.

After standing atop the football world in Feb. 2022, the Los Angeles Rams' attempt to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles had far from a Hollywood ending.

The Rams trudged through a disappointing 5-12 season - their worst in coach Sean McVay's six years at the helm - and became the first defending champion to miss the playoffs since the 2016 Denver Broncos.

Naturally viewed as favorites to contend for the crown and, if nothing else, make the postseason, 2022 simply didn't go according to plan for Los Angeles ... and perhaps nobody was more surprised than those within the organization, according to defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who noted there were still positive takeaways.

"It was a big shock to us all," Donald said. "Obviously coming off the year we had, until last year it was different, but there's a lot of things you can learn from a personal standpoint, even from a mental standpoint.

"Everything can’t be perfect all the time and that was just more of a learning experience last year, if anything."

A key reason for the Rams' struggles was being severely bitten by the injury bug; among those affected included Donald, quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Cooper Kupp and several offensive linemen.

Some have pointed to a shortened offseason due to the Super Bowl run as a reason for the heightened injuries, but regardless, Los Angeles hopes that's a thing of the past.

However, there remain lessons to be learned, something Donald harped on during his first meeting with reporters since going down with an injury in late November.

“You need everybody," said Donald. "That's to the third-tier players to the fourth-tier players. Everybody has to be ready to play because anything can happen at any time. We’ve seen that last year. A bunch of guys went down, even the guys that are considered the backup guys went down, so it was to a point where a lot of young guys had to step up."

Needing young players to make an impact will be a theme for the Rams once more this season, as they've been forced to move on from several impactful veterans, including but not limited to cornerback Jalen Ramsey, linebacker Bobby Wagner and edge defender Leonard Floyd.

As such, outside expectations for Los Angeles have completely flipped from a year ago. There have been record predictions of 5-12 or worse, and the idea of the Rams being bad enough to land a top-three draft pick has been floated.

That is, in places far outside of Los Angeles' locker room, where Donald and his teammates are embracing the lack of respect and know how good they can be.

"I kind of like it," said Donald, of the low expectations. "It's like starting all over again from scratch. We ain't the team that's talked about. It's kind of like the little underdogs. You just get to work and just play. You ain't got to worry about too much other stuff. You just get to play at a high level and just fly around.

"As long as we do our job and do what we need to do, we are going to be in good position and be the type of team we want to be.”

This sentiment from Donald mirrors that of McVay, general manager Les Snead and chief operating officer Kevin Demoff, who've said the Rams will be better than many pundits currently believe.

Of course, confidence is expected, and this is the time of optimism around the league ... but Donald's been around long enough to know what's real and what isn't, especially from his teammates.

So, is Los Angeles trending towards a bounce-back 2023? Donald won't guarantee it - primarily because he's focused on the present and doing whatever it takes to ensure the "shock" of 2022 doesn't happen again.

“I guess you have got to watch and see," Donald said. "So obviously I trust the guys we got out there. Obviously, I’m going to do my part, but all you can do is do what we need to do, worry about today, and then we’re going to see.” 

You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft

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