Don't expect Aaron Donald's return to magically fix what's wrong with Rams defense

The Los Angeles Rams have lost star pass rusher Myles Garrett for at least four games due to injury, but they are getting former star pass rusher Aaron Donald back for a Week 2 clash with the New York Giants on Monday Night football. While the name is exciting, it's not exactly the reinforcement everyone thinks it is.

"I think we've got a great defense, a great team, a lot of great pieces," Donald said at practice earlier in the week. "Obviously, I would love for [Garrett] to be out there, but he won't be gone forever. … [We'll] hold it down while he's gone."

Donald came out of retirement to rejoin his old team after it acquired Garrett, the Defensive Player of the Year last season, in a blockbuster "Super-Bowl-or-bust" trade. Preseason oddsmakers then boosted Los Angeles to the favorite for a championship campaign. The Rams' 27-7 Week 1 stinker in Australia made that look like a wild overreaction.

Aaron Donald won't automatically return Rams defense to juggernaut status

Despite Donald's freakish size (six-foot-one, 280 pounds) he's been out of the game for two years and only made the decision to rejoin Los Angeles in early August. It's taken some time for him to ramp back up into NFL shape and he wasn't there for the first game of the season. There is bound to be rust when he first steps back onto the gridiron in primetime.

Even with Garrett on the field, the Rams' defense struggled to contain the San Francisco 49ers offense. It gave up 379 total yards, 23 first downs and didn't touch quarterback Brock Purdy once. Limiting offensive movement, getting the opponent off the field in three downs and sacking the quarterback are all must-haves for a successful defense.

ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes made an astute observation about how the Rams are going to be facing a similar offensive approach from the Giants and if no adjustments were made, it's going to be another long game for them.

"We got a Giants offense that we saw last week wants to put a fullback on the field, live in 21, 22 (personnel), run the ball — does that sound like a team that just played the Rams? I do think they're going to try to take a similar approach," Kimes pointed out on her podcast.

With Garrett out, Donald is a plug-and-play option at best. Los Angeles isn't necessarily getting a boost on the defensive line. In fact, it could be a downgrade if Donald isn't fully up to speed. Giants running back Cam Skattebo practically issued a challenge to the two-time Defensive Player of the Year after being asked about potentially facing him in the trenches.

"If it is his first game, he's got to be ready for it, just like we do. I'm excited to play against him," Skattebo said confidently. "If I have to meet him in the hole on 3rd and 1, so be it. I gotta get one yard."

That one-on-one matchup could be incredibly entertaining and, ultimately, the game decider. If Donald is not the imposing presence he used to be, there aren't a lot of other options Los Angeles can turn to. Monday night could be the best opportunity a non-NFC West team gets to knock the Rams off their preseason pedestal.

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