Aaron Donald suspension update: Is the NFL responsible for punishing him?
Thursday's news around the NFL has been the leaked video of Wednesday's joint practice between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals in which the defending champions' star defensive tackle, Aaron Donald, is clearly seen with two helmets hitting opposing players in a clearly violent act.
Immediately this fact brought to mind the action in the 2019 season in which Cleveland Browns defensive wing Myles Garrett hit Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with his helmet, an action that cost him, at the time, to miss six games and it was speculated that Donald would have the same fate.
Huge fight breaks out during joint practice between the Bengals and the Rams
The Rams are responsible for punishing Aaron Donald
However, that idea, according to a couple of press reports, has been partially dismissed since this incident did not occur in an NFL game, but in a practice, and according to the information gathered, discipline due to actions in practice is the responsibility of the team and not the league.
"On the Bengals-Rams incident: Teams are responsible for overseeing the conduct of players during practices, including joint practices. So no NFL-imposed discipline would be expected," reported Mark Maske of The Washington Post.
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"Clubs -- not the NFL -- are responsible for overseeing conduct of players at practice, including joint practices. So fair to say league discipline for Aaron Donald (or anyone else) in today's brouhaha is unlikely," said NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.
No word on whether the Rams will discipline their player
According to these two reports, it has not been ruled out that the Rams will impose some type of sanction on Donald, although at the moment, the defending champions have not commented on the matter and it is not known how they will proceed.
The Rams will have their last preseason game against the Bengals next Saturday, November 27, and will open the regular season next Thursday, September 8, when they face the Buffalo Bills.
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