Donda Sports behind him, Rams' Aaron Donald looks ahead to facing 49ers
Aaron Donald is accustomed to leading a rush, something he will do Sunday when the Rams play a key NFC West game against the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium.
But Thursday, the star defensive lineman dealt with a rush of nearly a dozen questions in the aftermath of his decision to part ways with Donda Sports, a marketing and content agency owned by Kanye West.
West has made antisemitic comments online and in television interviews in recent weeks.
“Obviously, things were said that me and my family don’t agree with,” Donald said before practice, “so we just decided to part ways.”
Thursday’s news conference was the first time Donald met with reporters since he and his wife, Erica, posted a statement on Donald’s Twitter feed Tuesday announcing their departure from Donda Sports.
“The recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children,” part of the statement said. “We find them to be irresponsible and go against everything we believe in as a family.”
Several companies have divested themselves from partnerships with West and Donda Sports.
Donald said that he and his wife do not “read everything” on social media but decided to act after their “inner circle” brought the situation and “those things that we don’t agree with” to their attention.
“We talked about it, and felt the best thing to do was part ways and leave it like that.”
Donald aims to leave talk of West behind with a solid performance against the 49ers.
The Rams have not defeated the 49ers during the regular season since 2018, a streak of seven games. In 16 regular-season games and one playoff game against the 49ers, Donald has 12½ sacks but has not recorded a sack against the 49ers in the last four games, including last season’s NFC championship and the Rams’ 24-9 defeat to the 49ers on Oct. 3.
The 49ers have neutralized Donald with a strong rushing attack and a passing scheme that does not require quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to hold on to the ball longer than a second or two before distributing it to running back/receiver Deebo Samuel, receiver Brandon Aiyuk or tight end George Kittle, and others.
And now the 49ers have added running back Christian McCaffrey, one of the NFL’s most dynamic runners and receivers.
Last week, the 49ers outbid the Rams for McCaffrey in a trade with the Carolina Panthers.
“He’s a headache to try to gameplan for with all the pieces they already got,” Donald said, “but you kind of know what to expect.”
This will be the second consecutive game the Rams will face McCaffrey. In the Rams’ 24-10 victory over the Panthers on Oct. 16, McCaffrey accounted for 158 total yards — including a 49-yard gain on a catch and run.
So the Rams must not miss tackles and must find a way to pressure Garoppolo into making mistakes. Other than Donald, who has a team-best four sacks, Rams edge rushers and outside linebackers have not consistently produced sacks.
Leonard Floyd averaged 10 sacks in each of the last two seasons, but he has zero in six games. Justin Hollins and Terrell Lewis each have one sack.
Floyd nursed a knee injury early in the season but, as with Donald, he has been neutralized by opponents that have adopted the quick-release strategy employed by the 49ers.
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said sacks by Floyd were imminent.
“Those things all happen when technique and opportunity meet,” Morris said, “and he has to have that opportunity. … I believe that will happen for him sooner rather than later.”
Etc.
Running back Darrell Henderson returned to practice and was limited, per the Rams injury report, after missing Wednesday because of what was listed as illness. Receiver Brandon Powell (ankle) also was limited. Cornerback Cobie Durant (hamstring) was a full participant.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
