Rams ‘hope’ Aaron Donald iback for Week 5

Sean McVay has expressed a “hope” among the Los Angeles Rams that Aaron Donald would be back for their Week 5 matchup against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. You can see Sarah Barshop’s tweet on it below.

Sean McVay said the “hope” is that Aaron Donald will play on Monday against the Bills. “That’s the direction it looks like it’s trending in,” McVay said.— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) October 5, 2026

It will be another primetime game for the Rams as their schedule is all over the place in 2026. The good news is that at 2-2, they are very much in the playoff race, but if they fall to 2-3, that could be a different conversation.

(si.com)

Sean McVay has expressed a “hope” among the Los Angeles Rams that Aaron Donald would be back for their Week 5 matchup against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. You can see Sarah Barshop’s tweet on it below.

Sean McVay said the “hope” is that Aaron Donald will play on Monday against the Bills. “That’s the direction it looks like it’s trending in,” McVay said.— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) October 5, 2026

It will be another primetime game for the Rams as their schedule is all over the place in 2026. The good news is that at 2-2, they are very much in the playoff race, but if they fall to 2-3, that could be a different conversation.

“Last week, Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald was a surprise addition to the injury report with what the team described as a sore back. Head coach Sean McVay said that Donald picked it up after the game against the Denver Broncos and that the team would play it safe with him. Donald didn’t practice all week and was eventually ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported late last week that he understood it to be a relatively minor injury for Donald and that the team sat him out with the hope that it would heal and be in a better spot long-term. The team understands that it’s more important to have Donald available in December and January than for a Week 4 game in October.”

“The Los Angeles Rams gutted out a win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, avoiding a 1-3 hole four games into the season. It took a dramatic come-from-behind effort where the defense dominated all day, and the offense finally came alive in the fourth quarter when it needed to most.

Pro Football Focus graded every player from the Rams’ win, and we separated them by the best and worst performers. Tyler Higbee and Puka Nacua led the way on offense, while Josh Wallace was outstanding on defense for Los Angeles.”

“Donald missed the Rams’ 24-20 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on October 4 because of a back injury, but head coach Sean McVay mentioned an promising update one day later.

ESPN’s Sarah Barshop reported on October 5 that McVay said the “hope” is Donald will be available when Los Angeles hosts the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football.”

“LA has simply not enjoyed much help from its punting, kicking, or return units. Coordinator Bubba Ventrone is aware of the problem. Like released return specialist Xavier Smith, many members of the group could suddenly find themselves on the outside looking in.

Let’s start with the best of the bunch. Evans has been a versatile contributor, but he has a knack for punting line drives that cause chaos on coverage. But he has taken stern warnings from Coach Ventrone to heart. After regressing in gross and net punting yards in 2025, he seems to have turned the corner.”

“Not simply because of the campus’s proximity to the stadium where the Rams played their home games in the first four seasons back in Los Angeles, but rather standing before students as a keynote speaker for the 2026 USC Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy White Coat Ceremony who were sitting in the very same seats he was more than a decade and a half ago.

“16 years ago, I was sitting exactly where you’re sitting, wearing the same white coat,” Hernandez said at the beginning of his speech. “I was excited. I was nervous. And if I’m being completely honest, I was thinking, ‘What the hell did I get myself into?’ I’m originally from Paramus, New Jersey. So moving across the country to the West Coast only added to that anxiety. Everything felt unfamiliar. The city, the people, the program. I had absolutely no idea where this journey would take me. And if you had told that nervous kid from Jersey that he’d leave sunny LA for snowy Buffalo for two years before coming back to LA, that he worked 12 seasons in the NFL, he’d win a Super Bowl and he’d be invited back to USC to stand on this stage to speak to the next generation of Trojan physical therapists, he would have laughed in your face and told you you’re absolutely crazy.”

Crazy as the circumstances seemed, Hernandez’s life and professional experiences were perfect for meeting the moment, offering three lessons to those students that he would’ve given to his younger self 16 years ago: Be comfortable being uncomfortable, consistency is the truest measure of greatness, and that people will always matter more than the accomplishments.”

“He’s such an energy spark for us, obviously,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “He made some tough catches late in the game for us over the middle. Guys were draped all over him. So he played like Puka to me.”

Nacua led the Rams (2-2) with 125 yards receiving on nine catches and had a rushing touchdown on a jet sweep after missing the previous two games because of a hip and groin injury. He also showed his typical toughness in run blocking, helping pave the way for another strong performance by running back Kyren Williams as he scored twice in the final four minutes to give Los Angeles a potentially season-salvaging victory.

“I thought he was really key and critical in those crunch-time moments,” coach Sean McVay said of Nacua.”

“The Los Angeles Rams beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and certainly didn’t make it easy for themselves. For much of the afternoon, it looked like the Rams were on their way to 1-3. However, in the fourth quarter, the Rams erased a 10-point deficit to win 24-20. Here are position grades from the Rams’ win over the Eagles.

There are two ways to look at Matthew Stafford’s game. In the first three quarters, Stafford had an adjusted EPA per play of -0.12. That ranked 23rd among quarterbacks in Week 4 through Sunday’s games. In the fourth quarter, his adjusted EPA per play jumped to 0.39. That’s a 0.51 increase. For as good as Stafford’s fourth quarter was, the first three quarters still happened. Stafford’s first-half interceptions both led to 10 Eagles points. He did well to bounce back, but he has to be better going forward. ”

“NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo and ESPN’s Adam Schefter previously reported Mixon will start out on the practice squad once he completes his medical exam.

The 30-year-old Mixon has tallied an impressive 7,429 rushing yards, 2,448 receiving yards and 74 touchdowns over the course of eight seasons in the NFL, but he sat out the entire 2025 campaign with a foot injury, after which the Texans released him in March.

When he was last healthy, Mixon made the Pro Bowl during one and only year with the Texans, recording his fifth 1,000-yard rushing campaign after putting together four with the Bengals.”

“The NFL has three 4-0 squads. The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs look the part, with Brock Purdy playing at an MVP level to open the season and K.C. sporting complementary ball with Patrick Mahomes and Kenneth Walker III splashing big plays. Then there are the Minnesota Vikings, who are as lopsided as any winning club.

The Vikings beat the Dolphins, 15-10, in Week 4 without scoring a touchdown, their second such win of the 2026 season after also prevailing without a TD in Week 2 at Chicago. Minnesota is the second team in the last 90 years (1994 Steelers) to win three straight games in a season while scoring one or fewer scrimmage touchdowns across the trio of tilts, per Opta Stats. The Vikings became just the third team in NFL history — and first in over a century — to begin a season 4-0 despite not scoring a touchdown in two of their first four games, joining the 1922 and 1923 Chicago Cardinals as the only squads to accomplish this feat, per NFL Research.

Kevin O’Connell would like his offense to hum a month into a season, but at least he can tinker while stacking up wins.”

“Indeed we dodged a near fatal season killing bullet Sunday. I was extremely pleased to see the Rams actually pull off a true comeback win. We had a similar chance at Denver but couldn’t get into the EZ from 10 yards with the clock running out. Buffalo is gonna be a tough out for sure. But, win or lose that game, we should eventually get back the critical players necessary to win games in the by mid season. Nacua sure made a difference Sunday. Now we need guys like Parkinson, who was prolific in 2025, back in the fold. Same for Jaylen Watson and sore back AD. Ferguson and Garrett are out for the foreseeable future, and that’s not gonna help. The Rams need to be looking right now at finding a real capable LB, WR and kick returner asap either by trade or free agency. I believe cutting X-man was a good move that sent a vital message to the team. Now we should be looking at dumping and replacing Tutu, Whittington, kick returner(s) and at least one LB if we really want to overtake SF and Seattle for the NFC West championship. Aside from the aforementioned matters Adams and Corum need consistency (either hot or cold as ice), the jury is still out on McClendon at RT and who knows which version of Stafford will show up on any given Sunday?” -SlowTightEnd