THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- It was 2014. Aaron Donald made the Pro Bowl as a rookie, and Rex Ryan, then head coach of the New York Jets, felt one of his own defensive linemen, Sheldon Richardson, should have made the team instead. He was upset. And so Ryan said: "If it kept him out of the Pro Bowl because some guy had X amount of sacks -- and that guy can't hold his jock as a player, to be honest with you -- I think that's kind of strange to me."
"Can't hold his jock."
Rex Ryan said that about Aaron Donald. The Aaron Donald, a man who has quickly become arguably -- some would say definitively -- the game's most dominant player.
“Yeah," Donald told reporters after Wednesday's Los Angeles Rams practice, "I remember them. I ain’t forget about what he said. But, it is what it is. It ain’t no big deal to me, but I remember it. I remember what he said."
Donald, with a sly grin, turned to a reporter and asked: "What he say again?"
Then he heard the comment and shook his head knowingly.
"Yeah, I remember that," Donald said. "... That's kind of disrespectful to say. But it is what it is."
Ryan's current team, the Buffalo Bills, travels to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to take on the Rams in Week 5 on Sunday, with kickoff set for 4:25 p.m. ET. Ryan was reminded of those comments during a session with local media Wednesday and mocked himself for them, saying: "You know me; I make some comments that aren't really good. That's one of them."
Later, on a conference call with media members from the Los Angeles area, Ryan said his off-the-cuff comment on Donald is "right there at the top" with some of the dumbest ones he had ever made -- and that's saying a lot.
"I never even saw him play," Ryan said, "but I knew he was a rookie, so rookies shouldn't go to the Pro Bowl. But, anyway, after I've seen this kid play, I'm like, 'Oh boy! Mark that down as one of the dumbest ones. And I've had a couple of them; maybe one or two dumb ones. That one right there is right at the top. Obviously, he's a great player."
You think?
Donald is the greatest interior pass-rusher in the game, and that isn't even up for debate. He's probably the best defensive lineman, no matter where he lines up. Many believe he's the best defender, no matter the position, especially with J.J. Watt now out. And some would even say he's the game's best player, period.
Donald was told that Ryan took his comment back and praised him effusively, but Donald didn't really care.
"He still said it."
He was asked if it would give him any added motivation Sunday.
"I'm just going to go play football -- fly around and make some plays," Donald said. "That's all that matters."
