Aaron Donald Skips the Flight to Australia, Officially Out for Rams-49ers Opener

Aaron Donald's highly anticipated return to the NFL is officially on hold, mostly because the legendary defensive tackle apparently has zero interest in a 15-hour flight to Australia. According to Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, Donald will not travel with the Los Angeles Rams for their Thursday night opener against the San Francisco 49ers and is officially inactive.

The Rams are officially stating that they want to give Donald more time to "ramp up" before throwing him back onto the gridiron. Translation: a guy who hasn't played professional football in two full seasons looked at a trans-Pacific flight schedule and decided his comeback tour could wait a week.

"Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport reported the Rams want to give Donald more time to ramp up."

You cannot really blame him. Donald has absolutely nothing left to prove, boasting a career resume that reads like a created player on Madden. But for a Los Angeles defense that was banking on his immediate return to anchor the line, missing Week 1 against a bitter division rival is a brutal reality check.

This completely flips the script for Thursday night's international showcase. San Francisco's offensive line just went from facing a terrifying, fully rested Aaron Donald to dealing with a standard Rams front. If you were looking at the game total or the spread, Donald's absence is the exact kind of market-moving news that forces oddsmakers to scramble and adjust the math.

The 49ers have to be thrilled with this development. They get to open their season on a neutral field in Australia without having to double-team a first-ballot Hall of Famer on every single snap. Meanwhile, the Rams coaching staff has to figure out how to generate pressure without their ultimate cheat code.

For now, Donald stays in California to stretch, lift, and watch his teammates play on a completely different continent. The Rams will try to survive Week 1, but all eyes immediately shift to Week 2 to see if the ramp-up period is actually over, or if this highly publicized comeback is going to be a part-time gig.