What caused the Rams’ Aaron Donald to beat Bengals players with their own helmets?
While fights do happen at joint practices in the NFL, it’s not every day you see a player use his opponent’s helmets to beat them.
In somewhat medieval fashion, the Rams’ DL went to work on Bengals players while wielding their own helmets as weapons during their joint practice.
Aaron Donald vs the Cincinatti Bengals. Round 1. Fight!
According to reports and video, Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald was involved in a heated fight with players of the Cincinnati Bengals. Whether it was residual tension from their Super Bowl clash earlier this year, or just the summer heat, it was clear that the superstar DL had one thing in mind. Indeed, Donald was photographed in what has to be considered a moment of menace, while holding two Bengals helmets as he faced off with a host of players. In truth, it’s better you see it for yourself:
As mentioned before, there was also a video posted online which appears to show Donald swinging helmets, while being swarmed by a large group of players from both teams. At one point, the video seems to show the threatening DL being thrown to the ground. Interestingly, there was a pretext to the moment earlier on in the training session. One of the rules of the practice was that Bengals QB Joe Burrow could not be sacked. Having recently returned from surgery, Burrows is still on the path to full recovery. Being as he is; however, Donald was able to get within touching distance of Burrow and so, he touched him. The Bengals players didn’t take kindly to it and let him know. As mentioned before, pretext.
What was the reaction to Aaron Donald’s actions?
While there didn’t seem to be any real explanation given, the fight was addressed by Bengals Zac Taylor. Speaking after the session, Taylor put it down to competitiveness. “Emotions run high,” Taylor said. “We’ve been working together for two days now, and that’s just some really competitive guys getting into it a little bit.” Interestingly, Taylor appeared to diminish the fact that Donald was seen swinging helmets by explaining that nobody was hurt. In case you’re wondering, fights are a fairly common occurrence at joint practices in the NFL. Beating your opponents with their own helmets, however, not so much.
Will Aaron Donald be punished for beating Bengals with helmets?
As yet, there has been no official word on what, if anything will happen to Aaron Donald. On the other hand, the NFL has had to deal with a case like this before and on that occasion, the player was punished. It was back in 2019, when Myles Garrett hit Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with his own helmet. The aggression resulted in an indefinite suspension. Can we expect to see a similar outcome in Donald’s case? Who’s to say, but if one thing is clear, it’s that hitting people with their own helmets isn’t ok.