Myles Garrett refuses to recruit Aaron Donald but would be ‘excited to be his partner in crime’

Through the first four days of training camp, the 11-on-11 scrimmages have quickly revealed what the Rams hoped for when they traded for two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. 

They wanted not only the NFL’s most feared pass rusher but also a leader secure enough in his greatness that he has no interest in reminding anyone of it.

Oh, and maybe he can help lure Aaron Donald out of retirement as well. 

“I don’t want to push him in one way or another,” Garrett said about Donald’s potential return. “If he’s here, I’m excited to be his teammate, his partner in crime. I think we can do great things together.”

With hundreds of screaming fans watching from the stands during practice, Garrett has quickly become one of the biggest attractions. His mere presence draws eyes. Even Garrett’s new teammates have used the word “aura” on several occasions to describe him.

Garrett doesn’t deny it. He simply refuses to lean on it.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Garrett said. “Maybe the aura will increase over time.”

The former No. 1 overall pick from Texas A&M has spent his first month with his new team talking about collaboration. He said he doesn’t want to become the new face of the Rams’ defense, just another voice inside the room that was one play from going to the Super Bowl at the end of January.

“I’m not trying to force myself on anyone or try to take over a group,” Garrett said Wednesday. “This group was doing great without me, and I want to just try to help elevate the guys and the playmakers that we have here.”

NFL superstars rarely arrive at a new team with that perspective. Most of them walk into a room and expect everyone to follow them simply because of their resume. Instead, Garrett has approached his addition to the Rams’ defense like a graduate seminar, not a lecture hall.

“It’s been cool watching Byron [Young] and Myles continue building their relationship,” said Rams coach Sean McVay on how Garrett’s collaborative approach is already rubbing off on his teammates. “Byron has tremendous respect for Myles’ experience and wisdom, and they’ve done a great job learning.”

When told this, Garrett smiled, and immediately flipped the narrative.

“I want to learn from them as well,” Garrett said. “Their rush styles and how they plan to create pressures and attack the passer.”

Garrett invites the conversations. He wants younger teammates to pick his brain, but he also wants to understand theirs. The goal isn’t for them to become versions of Garrett, it’s to discover how all of their strengths can fit together with his to “create the most chaos we can in the backfield.”

One way to guarantee that is for Donald to come out of retirement and return to the Rams.

Since Garrett arrived in Los Angeles, Rams fans have dreamed about pairing perhaps the greatest defensive tackle in NFL history with arguably the league’s most dominant edge rusher.

Donald has been working out at the team’s facility in Woodland Hills this offseason, while he tries to get himself back into elite condition, fueling speculation that the future Hall of Famer could return after taking the last 2 ½  years away from football.

Garrett isn’t adding to the recruiting campaign.

“It’s a difficult thing coming back. I know he has a family. He has a lot of decisions to make. The last thing he needs is me to push him in one direction or another,” Garrett said. “I’m going to support him either way.”

For someone who has never stepped away from the game, Garrett offered a thoughtful assessment of what Donald would actually face if he chose to return.

“It’s getting back to that tempo,” Garrett said. “As much as you can try to work yourself back into shape, you’ve got to get your wind and your legs back underneath you. When you get on the field and things are flying around, you’ve got to find a way to get your conditioning back and slow down the game once more. Someone as great as he is, I think he can definitely come back and do it.”

Garrett even volunteered to help if Donald wanted it.

“I’d love to pick his brain,” Garrett said. “I’d love to do some of his workouts, and he could come do some of mine. I think there’s a lot we can learn from each other.”

The most intriguing moment, however, may have come unintentionally.

While recalling past matchups against Rams players, Garrett smiled and said, “Maybe when Aaron comes back, I’ll get a picture with him holding the jersey that’s hanging up at my place in Texas.”

A harmless comment. Maybe even a Freudian slip.

Until then, we can only dream of the two best pass rushers ever to take the field one day playing alongside each other. 

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