Rams’ DT Aaron Donald Looking for Revenge on Rex Ryan
By Ryan Brennan
A couple of years ago, Rex Ryan made a ‘disrespectful’ remark at Aaron Donald, a defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams — who the Bills play this week.
We all know Buffalo Bills‘ head coach Rex Ryan has a way of saying the first things that come to his head.
It’s what makes Rex Ryan, Rex Ryan.
However, his crazy words might come to bite him in the behind on Sunday. They’re words that were said when he was the head coach of the New York Jets, but they recently resurfaced in wake of the Bills-Rams matchup this Sunday.
The words were said in 2014, when Ryan learned that his defensive tackle — Sheldon Richardson — wasn’t picked for the Pro Bowl. Instead, Los Angeles Rams’ defensive tackle — Aaron Donald — was picked after a dominant rookie season.
Donald ended up with 47 total tackles, 9 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in his rookie season.
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A bit mad over his player not making it, Rex Ryan proceeded to say this:
"“If it kept [Sheldon Richardson] out of the Pro Bowl because some guy had X amount of sacks — and that guy can’t hold his jock as a player, to be honest with you — I think that’s kind of strange to me,” said Rex Ryan in 2014."
To most people, that’s just Rex Ryan being Rex Ryan. However, to a rookie defensive tackle, it adds a bit of motivation when the two meet on a Sunday. That Sunday is coming up in a couple of days.
When Donald was asked whether or not he remembered what Ryan said, he replied:
"“Yeah, I remember them. I ain’t forget about what he said. But, it is what it is. It ain’t no big deal to me, but I remember it. I remember what he said.”"
Aaron Donald also added that the words were “disrespectful to say.”
Now, if we all know Rex Ryan like we think we do, we know that he likes to backtrack on his words from time to time. This was one of those times. Responding to Donald’s response, Rex Ryan stated:
"“I never even saw him play, but I knew he was a rookie, so rookies shouldn’t go to the Pro Bowl. But, anyway, after I’ve seen this kid play, I’m like, ‘Oh boy! Mark that down as one of the dumbest ones.’ And I’ve had a couple of them; maybe one or two dumb ones. That one right there is right at the top. Obviously, he’s a great player.”"
Classic Rex.
The last bit of exchanges came from Aaron Donald, who once again kept it short and sweet. He replied, “He still said it,” implying that what was said, was said.
Well, all we can hope for as Buffalo Bills’ fans is that Rex Ryan isn’t motivating him to crush our quarterback and is, instead, doing his mind games with the opposing team. We saw how it worked against the Patriots, let’s just hope it works again.
I’ll be praying for our offensive line.
In his first two years with the Rams, Donald totaled 116 tackles, 20 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and two passes deflected. So far in four games this season, he has recorded 14 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 2 pass deflections.
The Buffalo Bills will travel to LA to take on the Rams on Sunday @ 4:25 PM. It’s our first mid-day game, after having three 1:00 games and one night game on a Thursday night.
We know our Bills and we know they will walk into LA with one goal and one goal only…
WIN.
What are your predictions for the Bills-Rams matchup? Leave your comments below!