Aaron Donald

The star defensive tackle has been absent for the Rams' last two NFL games after sustaining an ankle injury in the 26-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on November 27.

McVay's men are already out of postseason contention at 4-10 following injury problems surrounding Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp and a host of other players.

Donald will remain sidelined along with that pair for Sunday's clash with the visiting Denver Broncos and McVay does not expect the 31-year-old to feature again this season for the reigning Super Bowl champions.

"Probably not," McVay responded when asked if Donald would feature again with three games left of the Rams' campaign.

"I just think, 'Will he be fully cleared to be Aaron Donald?'. And if he is, talk to him and see. But if not, we'll err on the side of being smart with him.

"But obviously, he's a guy that has certainly earned the right where you talk to him. But he's not cleared yet and I don't know that I see that changing in the next couple of weeks."

If Donald does not return, he will end 2022 with 49 tackles, five sacks, 10 tackles for loss and one forced fumble from his 11 games.

The three-time Defensive Player of the Year was named to a ninth straight Pro Bowl on Monday.

Donald was one of the initial two Pro Bowl announcements, with Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander also receiving the honour ahead of Monday's clash between the Rams and Packers.

Drafted in 2014, Donald was the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year, making the Pro Bowl in the process, and he has gone on to earn selection in every season of his career.

He joins Hall-of-Famers Joe Thomas, Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor, Franco Harris, Derrick Thomas, Mel Renfro, Barry Sanders and Merlin Olsen as the only players to achieve the feat in their first nine seasons.

It adds to one of the sport's greatest defensive resumes, as Donald also has three Defensive Player of the Year awards, and seven consecutive selections to the All-Pro First Team from 2015 through 2021.

Having never played less than 14 games in any of his eight previous seasons, Donald's streak of All-Pro First Teams is in jeopardy after only tallying five sacks in 11 games, with his campaign likely over due to injury.

Meanwhile, Alexander, a first-round pick in 2018 will compete in his second Pro Bowl after also earning selection in 2020, a season where he was named to the All-Pro Second Team.

The rest of the Pro Bowl rosters will be announced on Wednesday.

The Super Bowl LVI champions had hoped Donald would do so after he hinted he would "run it back" during the victory parade following the win against the Cincinnati Bengals at the NFL's big show in February.

Ahead of the game at SoFi Stadium, it was reported the highly rated defensive tackle could retire if he finally won a championship to go with his individual achievements.

And the three-time Defensive Player of the Year could scarcely have been more influential in the 23-20 Rams win.

Donald held up Joe Burrow and the Bengals on third and one and then fourth and one on their final drive, finishing with two sacks and three quarterback hits – tying the best marks of his playoff career.

The 30-year-old penned a six-year, $135 million extension before the start of the 2018 season, but has now outplayed that deal.

Speaking at a media conference on Tuesday at the annual league meeting, McVay addressed Donald's situation, saying: "It's a huge priority for us. I know that our group is working with [Donald's agent] Todd France and trying to get that figured out.

"[I] feel really good about Aaron's excitement about coming back and continuing to lead the way for us. But that is a piece that we do want to be able to get figured out for him. And I think he's deserving of it.

"We're in the process of working through that right now."

Donald recorded 12.5 sacks for 111 yards and 17 quarterback hits in the 2021 regular season, before adding another 3.5 sacks for 20.5 yards and nine quarterback hits in the postseason.

The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year signed with the company following victory at Super Bowl LVI in February, alongside Boston Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown.

But both men have now left the organisation amid further derogatory and antisemitic comments by its musician and businessmen founder, who is now known as Ye.

"We felt a responsibility to send a clear message that hateful words and actions have consequences and that we must do better as human beings," Donald said via a statement issued alongside his wife Erica.

"We do not feel our beliefs, voices and actions belong anywhere near a space that misrepresents and oppresses people of any background, ethnicity or race."

Ye saw his ties severed with apparel giant Adidas on Tuesday, having held a near-decade-long lucrative sportswear partnership with the German brand.

Stafford outduelled superstar Brady as the Rams beat NFL Super Bowl champions the Buccaneers 34-24 in Los Angeles on Sunday.

In a blockbuster Week 3 showdown, Stafford stole the show with four touchdowns to condemn the Buccaneers to their first loss of the season.

With his haul of four TDs, Stafford improved his season tally to nine – matching Hall of Famer Kurt Warner (1999) for the most by a Rams quarterback in the first three games of a season.

Stafford, who arrived from the Detroit Lions via a trade in the offseason, finished 27 of 38 for 343 yards and no interceptions as he earned praise from team-mate Donald.

"He's playing lights out," Rams defensive linseman Donald said. "That's why he's here, we expect that from him and I know he's going to continue doing what he's doing and even at a higher level."

"It's only three games, still got a long season, but obviously that's the ultimate goal [a Super Bowl], that's what we're chasing," said Donald. "That's the only thing I'm chasing."

Stafford – a Pro Bowler in 2014 – was also lauded by Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians post-game.

"He pushes it down the field so easily," Arians said. "You're right up in his face one time, he finds a guy wide-open down the field and gets it to him.

"A lot of guys, they see it but they can't get it to him. He's a special player."

Stafford, who threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson in the third quarter to give the Rams a 21-7 lead, added: "I was the new guy coming in and they've embraced me, which was awesome.

"I'm just trying to be myself every single day, bring my best every single day and see where that takes us."

Bouncing back from a loss to the high-flying Arizona Cardinals, the Rams (4-1) spoiled what would have been a miraculous comeback led by Seattle backup quarterback Geno Smith with a late interception. 

It took both offences time to find their rhythm, as Seattle (2-3) entered half-time with a 7-3 lead, but Stafford led touchdown drives on the Rams' first two possessions after the interval. 

Smith came on after Seahawks starter Russell Wilson left the game with a finger injury suffered late in the third quarter and led a 98-yard touchdown drive, hitting DK Metcalf for a 23-yard score for the QB's first touchdown pass since December 3, 2017. 

That score brought the home side within 16-14, but Stafford led the Rams right back down the field and Sony Michel punched it in for a two-yard touchdown run. 

Smith then engineered a drive ending in a field goal to keep the Seahawks in the game, but after a Rams punt his pass for Tyler Lockett was picked off by Nick Scott, setting up a Matt Gay field goal that would seal the win for Los Angeles. 

Stafford finished the game 25-of-37 passing for 365 yards, while Wilson was 11-of-16 for 152 yards and Smith 10-of-17 for 131 yards, with all three QBs recording one touchdown and one interception each. 

Aaron Donald, meanwhile, became the Rams' all-time leader in sacks with number 88.5, eclipsing Leonard Little.

Donald, one of the league's greatest ever defensive players, is an eight-time Pro Bowler, seven-time All-Pro First-team selection and three-time Defensive Player of the Year, but team success had evaded him.

The 30-year-old was one of three starters against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday who had also started the Super Bowl LIII defeat to the New England Patriots.

But a big performance from Donald contributed to a precious 23-20 triumph, meaning he could finally get his hands on the Lombardi Trophy.

It had been suggested Donald would retire if the Rams won, but he was in no mood to discuss that possibility immediately after the game.

"I'm in a moment right now. I'm in a moment," he told CBS. "I just want to enjoy this right now with these guys.

"My kids are coming on the field – this is a promise I made to my daughter – so we're going to play in the confetti for a minute, man. I'm just going to live in the moment."

Describing his feelings, Donald said: "I'm so happy. I wanted this so bad. I dreamed this, man. I dreamed this. It's surreal. Look at this, look at this, man. I feel amazing, feel great."

He added: "It's the best feeling in the world. God is great. God is great. I'm lost for words. I don't know what to say. It's a blessing."

Sunday's game came down to fine margins, with the Rams the first team in NFL history to win three games by three points or fewer in a single postseason.

Donald finished with two sacks and three quarterback hits – including forcing an incompletion from Joe Burrow on fourth down in the final seconds. He had stuffed the run on third-and-one, too.

"Strain, strain," he said of his thoughts at that moment. "One last play to be world champs, give it everything you've got. We made a play and we won. That's all that matters."

The Los Angeles Rams may be in Burrow's immediate sights as he and the Cincinnati Bengals look to pull off the upset in Super Bowl LVI, but long term he is pursuing Rodgers in terms of individual greatness, with this season's MVP award the fourth in the Green Bay Packers star's remarkable career.

"He deserved it, he played great all year," Burrow said when asked about Rodgers on Friday.

"He's been the best player in the league, I don't know if I would say that, [he], Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady have kind of been battling for that the last five years. I'm chasing Aaron Rodgers to try to be the best, he's been doing it for a long time."

Burrow will equal Rodgers' number of Super Bowl wins should he lead the Bengals to victory over the Rams, Rodgers' career partially defined by frustration in the playoffs since the Packers' triumph in Super Bowl XLV in the 2010 season.

Trying to stop Burrow on Sunday will be a player who may well feel snubbed after missing out on a fourth Defensive Player of the Year award. Aaron Donald did not receive that honour, which instead went to Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt, despite a season in which he registered a stunt-adjusted pass rush win rate of 63.83 per cent.

That was not only the highest for all defenders with at least 100 one-on-one matchups, it was over 10 percentage points higher than his nearest challenger, Myles Garrett (53.56). 

Donald and his team-mates on the defensive line, including Von Miller and Leonard Floyd, took over the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth quarter to help the Rams turn a 17-7 deficit into a victory.

So how will Burrow handle the challenge of facing a defensive front led by one of the all-time greats, who could not possibly need more motivation?

Burrow – whose average time to throw from the snap of the ball was 2.58 seconds, faster than the league average of 2.67 seconds (min. 200 attempts) – knows processing quickly will be crucial.

"In my opinion, they're [the Rams' pass rush] the best in the league at what they do, they get a lot of pressure on the quarterback, they get schemed to get a lot of one-on-one matchups," he added.

"So it's going to be partly on me to handle that pressure, get the ball out of my hands quickly and make plays when the opportunities are there."

Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald refused to let that be the case.

As they have done throughout a rollercoaster 2021 campaign, the Rams' two biggest stars stepped up to ensure the loss of the one they acquired in a blockbuster midseason signing would not prove decisive, once again rising to the occasion to propel the franchise to its first Super Bowl title in Los Angeles with a 23-20 win at their SoFi Stadium home, which was awash with Bengals fans.

Until the penultimate drive, the injury to Beckham, who scored the Rams' first touchdown, appeared set to be the turning point. After he limped off the field, the Rams saw a drive end in points just once, kicking a field goal in the third quarter to trim the Bengals' lead to 20-16. Other than that, their offensive series in the wake of Beckham's injury produced a pair of interceptions and four punts.

Having enjoyed a stunning postseason, Matthew Stafford was struggling for chemistry with any of his receivers minus the attention Beckham commands. It was a problem the Rams did not look like solving, but the solution ultimately proved a simple one, as they reverted to a policy that has often served them well this season on the final drive: feed Kupp.

Kupp had touched the ball just twice after Beckham went down. A lack of involvement for the Offensive Player of the Year and now Super Bowl MVP was never likely to produce the desired result for the Rams, so on fourth and one with the game on the line they made sure the ball ended up in his hands, Kupp coming across the formation and receiving a hand-off from Stafford that he took for seven yards.

From there, the final drive was the Kupp show, the wide receiver's final act of one of the most exciting seasons of recent memory sure to be one that will live in NFL lore.

Kupp racked up 46 scrimmage yards as he was targeted six times by Matthew Stafford, those targets resulting in 39 yards, two critical penalties and, most importantly, a leaping grab in the endzone that finally ended the Rams' wait for a title in the city they returned to in 2016 after over two decades away.

A key defensive holding call against Logan Wilson on third and eight from the Cincinnati eight-yard line was dubious, while a pass interference penalty on Eli Apple that put the ball on the one-yard line was more obvious, but there was no doubt about the quality from Kupp as he sold Apple an inside release and then adjusted perfectly to a back-shoulder throw from Stafford to erase the Bengals' 20-16 lead.

As he did in the Divisional Round and the Conference Championship, Kupp had struck a telling blow, but the Rams needed a closer on defense with a Bengals reply initially looking promising. Enter Donald.

The man most consider the best player in the NFL hadn't quite succeeded in wrecking the game even as a much-maligned Bengals offensive line disintegrated in the second half and left Joe Burrow hobbled, yet he saved his best for the most significant play of the game on a do-or-die fourth down for Cincinnati, powering past Bengals left guard Quinton Spain with a two-hand swipe move and flinging Burrow to the turf as he let loose a desperation pass that fell short of Samaje Perine.

It meant that tears of joy from Beckham – rather than his earlier anguish – would, along with that of Donald gesturing to put a ring on his finger, be one of the abiding images from a game that saw Sean McVay become the youngest Super Bowl-winning head coach in NFL history.

The Rams' road to Super Bowl glory has come the hard way, Los Angeles becoming the first team to win three successive postseason games by three points or fewer, and there has been a common thread across each of those wins. When they have needed them the most, the Rams have seen their stars – be it Stafford, Kupp and Beckham on offense or Donald and Co. on defense – deliver.

As a franchise, the Rams have eschewed the traditional team-building methods, trading away draft pick after draft pick to build a top-heavy roster and inviting scrutiny with each setback the team suffered as a result. In Kupp and Donald, though, it is two homegrown draft picks who have ensured those stumbles and any questions about the construction of their roster can now be forgotten, with the Rams free to enjoy the feeling of vindication for the next six months.

Los Angeles went off-script to build a perennial playoff contender and, thanks to that approach and the Rams' ability to come through in a cliffhanger, it is the team from the city of stars that ends the year outshining all others.

McVay guided the Rams to Sunday's 23-20 Super Bowl LVI triumph over the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium, making him the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl in NFL history at 36-years-old.

Donald made a series of key plays to clinch victory for the Rams but speculation has been rife about the 30-year-old's playing future, although he declined to discuss it in the aftermath of victory.

“I think all of these guys are wiped,” Demoff told reporters on Monday. “When you get to this point, the gas tank is empty and you’re sitting there holding a trophy.

"I think that’s daunting to some degree when you wake up this morning and realize you’ve got to go do it all over again, and you don’t have the energy so I think the talk is actually natural.

“I would agree. I don’t think Sean’s current pace is sustainable in terms of how much work he puts in if you want to have a family. But I think the one thing, these guys all love football.

"They love being around each other… These are all natural questions that are hard to answer in the moment. A month away, two months away from everybody, and I think things will feel a lot better.”

McVay added that good things happens when you get great players pulling in the same direction, as the Rams claimed their first Super Bowl victory since 1999, when they were based in St Louis.

The Rams invested heavily in success ahead of this season, bringing in quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr and outside line backer Von Miller in the past 12 months.

"When you get around great players and great coaches who are all committed and pulling in the same direction, pulling that rope in the same direction, good things can happen," McVay told reporters on Monday.

"Each team is a new team every single year but when you have the right foundational pieces like Cooper [Kupp], [Andrew] Whitworth, Stafford, Aaron Donald, the list goes on, you just feel grateful to be a part of it.

"Because of their success other people get a chance to grow."

Miller finished 2021 with 9.5 sacks for the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams, racking up five for Los Angeles in the final four games of the regular season.

His strong play down the stretch carried into the Rams' triumphant postseason, Miller registering a sack in the wins over the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before sacking Joe Burrow twice in their victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.

He finished the season fifth among edge rushers with at least 100 one-on-one matchups with a stunt-adjusted pass rush win rate of 43.40, according to Stats Perform data.

When reflecting about his free agency, Miller said he was surprised with how difficult the decision was.

"I wasn't expecting it to be like that," Miller told reporters. "I was expecting you win the Super Bowl, you got your offers out here, where do you want to go, pick, go back to the Rams. But it was tough man, it came down to the very end.

"I feel like I let [the Rams] down – I feel like I'm breaking up with my girlfriend. That's just me and the way I go about my business. 

"But this was the one time in my life where I had to make a decision for me. I saw what makes Aaron Donald Aaron Donald, and it was hard to walk away from that.

"The only way you can walk away from that is to walk into something special. And what they're doing here is extremely special. 

"[The Bills are] gonna win a Super Bowl with or without me. They've built an amazing team."

Ahead of Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium, it was suggested Donald could quit the NFL if he finally won a championship to go with his individual achievements.

And the three-time Defensive Player of the Year could scarcely have been more influential in a 23-20 Rams win.

Donald held up Joe Burrow and the Bengals on third and one and then fourth and one on their final drive, finishing with two sacks and three quarterback hits – tying the best marks of his playoff career.

The emotional defensive tackle refused to be drawn into comment on his future immediately after the game, instead saying he was "just going to live in the moment".

But Wednesday's parade provided a rather different setting, as head coach Sean McVay – whose 2022 status had also been the subject of speculation – chanted "run it back" before handing the microphone to Donald.

"We built a super team," Donald responded. "If we can bring the super team back, why not run it back? We could be world champs again!"