Report: Aaron Donald has torn rib cartilage, still expected to play Saturday

Aaron Donald left Saturday’s game against the Seahawks with a rib injury and despite returning to the sideline on two different occasions, he never got back on the field. The Rams opted to play it safe with their all-world defensive tackle, especially with Los Angeles being up 10 points for the majority of the fourth quarter.

Sean McVay shared some good news on Sunday, saying Donald’s injury isn’t expected to prevent him from playing. And on Monday, we got further clarity on what exactly the injury is.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Donald has torn rib cartilage, but he’s still expected to play against the Packers on Saturday.

“Left the game, did not return with a rib injury,” Rapoport said. “My understanding is Aaron Donald has a torn rib cartilage, pretty painful injury. But Sean McVay was bullish yesterday, saying they are hopeful about him playing. They do expect him to be out there. Gonna deal with some pain, and actually probably could’ve even come back late in [Saturday’s] game. It was just pretty clear they did not need him.”

X-rays on Donald’s ribs were negative, which means nothing was broken. But this isn’t the smallest of injuries. It’s similar to the one Cam Akers suffered in Week 2 when he separated rib cartilage and missed the next two games as a result.

Donald is as tough as they come and it’s hard to imagine him missing this huge game, especially after hearing McVay say he’s expected to play.