Exclusive | Rams legend close to Sean McVay makes bold Aaron Donald prediction: That fire is back

It’s always something with Aaron Donald. For months, the question hovering over the Rams was whether the greatest defensive player in franchise history would actually come out of retirement. Then he did. So naturally, before Donald could even get comfortable wearing No.99 again, everybody immediately moved on to the next pressing question:Will he play in the season opener in Australia?The California Post met with Donald’s former teammate of five seasons, running back Todd Gurley, for an exclusive interview, and the former NFL Offensive Player of the Year could only laugh at the frivolity of it all.“It’s always something, right?” Gurley told The Post during DraftKings Gameday, in which they gave away free gas to Angelenos on Wednesday.

“First it’s, ‘Is he coming back?’ Then he comes back, and now we’re like, ‘Is he going to play?’”But here’s the interesting part.Gurley thinks he will. “I think he will play.

But I think it may be somewhat limited,” Gurley said.“I think they’ll slowly ramp him back up.

But I hope he plays, man, mostly for the international crowd.You have a lot of people over there.”That would be one hell of a reintroduction. Donald announced on Sunday that he was ending his two-year retirement and returning to the Rams for the upcoming 2026 season.

Eleven days later, Los Angeles opens its campaign against the 49ers on Sept.10 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia. That quick turnaround has created understandable skepticism.Many NFL analysts believe that it’s unlikely Donald plays in Australia considering such a short football ramp-up.

Some league observers think Week 2 or even Week 3 would make considerably more sense for both teams. Sean McVay said both situations are possible.The Rams coach said this week the team will take Donald’s comeback “one day at a time,” first getting him reacclimated to practice, teammates and the demands of football be...