NFL

Donald focused on Bills opener after Rams-Bengals brawl

By Sports Desk September 06, 2022

Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald has drawn a line under his part in last Thursday's practice brawl against the Cincinnati Bengals, stating "what matters" is that he is ready for the season opener against the Buffalo Bills.

The defensive tackle was caught on camera in footage from a joint practice session between last season's Super Bowl finalists swinging a Bengals helmet as a weapon on August 25.

No ban has been handed down to him for his part in the fight, while Donald stated he did not wish to rehash the subject in an appearance on the AP Pro Football Podcast last week.

Speaking to media ahead of the NFL curtain-raiser against the Bills, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year reiterated his stance, while pointing out that nobody was injured in the incident.

"My main focus is Buffalo right now," Donald said. "I'm happy nobody got hurt in the practice and whatever, but my main focus is Thursday night against Buffalo.

"Everybody protected each other, everybody got out of the situation clean [and] healthy. So that's what matters. [I'm] ready for Week 1."

Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris meanwhile further added that the team treated the incident as a serious matter, but suggested it was an "error" of judgement more than an intentionally malicious move.

"You don't want to swing a helmet ever just at anybody in general, but there have been some helmets ripped off at times," he added.

"You never ever want to do those things. You don't want to have that on your resume.

"But at the same time, those things happen in practices. They're mistakes. They're errors and they're correctable when they happen at these times."

Related items

  • NFL: Chiefs stay perfect with OT win over Bucs NFL: Chiefs stay perfect with OT win over Bucs

    Kareem Hunt finished the game's lone overtime drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that kept the Kansas City Chiefs unbeaten with Monday's 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

    Hunt powered into the end zone to conclude the 10-play, 70-yard series that gave Kansas City (8-0) its 14th consecutive victory, including play-off games, dating back to last season. The veteran running back finished the night with a season-high 106 rushing yards on 27 carries. 

    Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, including two to DeAndre Hopkins in the wide receiver's first home game as a Chief, to help the defending Super Bowl champions stay perfect despite the Buccaneers forcing overtime on Baker Mayfield's 1-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Miller with 27 seconds left in regulation.

    Tampa Bay (4-5) opted to kick the extra point instead of attempting a potential game-winning two-point conversion, however, and never got the ball back again after losing the coin toss to begin overtime.

    The Bucs trailed 10-7 at half-time following Mahomes' 1-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins late in the second quarter, but scored 10 unanswered points in the third quarter to move ahead.

    After Mayfield found Cade Otton for an 11-yard touchdown pass early in the period for a 14-10 lead, Tampa Bay's defence forced a three-and-out to help set up Chase McLaughlin's 47-yard field goal with 5:50 left in the third.

    The Chiefs stormed back with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, however. Mahomes capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown delivery to Samaje Perine to tie the game at 17-17, then later hit Hopkins for a go-ahead 5-yard strike with 4:17 remaining in regulation.

    Kansas City's next possession stalled, though, to give Mayfield enough time to orchestrate a 10-play, 71-yard sequence that ended in Miller's tying touchdown grab.

    Mayfield finished 23 of 31 with 200 yards and two touchdowns. Otton led the Bucs with 77 receiving yards on eight catches, while Rachaad White had a rushing touchdown for Tampa in the first half.

    The Chiefs received 14 catches for 100 yards from Travis Kelce and 86 yards on eight receptions from Hopkins, playing his second game since being acquired by Kansas CIty from the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 24. 

  • Cowboys quarterback Prescott reportedly expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury Cowboys quarterback Prescott reportedly expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury

    The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.

    Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

    The severity of the injury was determined following an MRI, and reported Monday from multiple media outlets.

    Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.

     

    Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.

    He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.

    Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.

    The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.

    They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.

    Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.

    In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.

    There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.

  • Cowboys quarterback Prescott expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury Cowboys quarterback Prescott expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury

    The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.

    Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

    The severity of the injury was determined Monday following an MRI.

    Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.

     

    Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.

    He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.

    Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.

    The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.

    They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.

    Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.

    In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.

    There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.