NFC Notes: Aaron Donald, Rams, Seahawks

Aaron Donald

Casey White, an attorney hired by Rams DT Aaron Donald, tells ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry that the video evidence refutes the claims made against his client that he physically assaulted a man outside of a Pittsburgh-area nightclub.

“As he ducks, somebody from behind grabs him to stop him from interacting from this guy, Mr. Spriggs, so he holds Aaron back in a sense,” White said. “At that point, that’s when other people come to Aaron’s aid and defend him by removing, so to speak, Mr. Spriggs from the area where he is punched and he is fighting, it’s a mutual fight at this point between other individuals who Aaron does not really know.”

“Aaron actually runs over to his [Mr. Spriggs] aid and starts pulling people off of this guy,” White said. “He’s trying to get these kids off Spriggs, he gets at least two or three people off of Spriggs and at that point in time, somebody grabs Aaron and says, ‘This is not a good situation, let’s get the heck out of here.‘”

Donald’s attorney doesn’t expect Pittsburgh Police to file charges against Donald.

Rams

Rams WR Robert Woods said he’s excited for Matthew Stafford‘s potential impact on their offense, in addition to playing alongside DeSean Jackson. 

“Excited for what he brings to our offense, just seeing what he did in Detroit,” Woods said, via Kevin Patra of Around the NFL. “Many, many passing yards every single season. Just got to get these wins and these playoff wins with him. Really, his addition to our offense…adding DeSean Jackson. Our offense is looking loaded once again.”

Woods added that he’s been studying Jackson since his high school days at Long Beach Poly and feels the veteran will pair nicely with Cooper Kupp and himself. 

“Being from California, being from L.A., I’ve been watching DeSean Jackson since Long Beach Poly, Cal Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, [Washington Football Team],” Woods said. “Been a huge fan of his game, always watched him. Almost went to Cal ’cause I wanted to be like him so much, imitate his game. But really, he’s one of the best to do it, and you look at his stats consistently throughout his years — he’s one of the best deep receivers the game has ever seen. And I think that’s what we’re most excited for him to bring to our offense is his speed, his downfield ability just opening things up. And what we have in our offense with our screen games, getting the ball in his hands quick, it’s really dangerous for our offense to have so many weapons to go along with me and Cooper. Just the speed and all the threats on the field partnering with Matthew Stafford, this offense is going to be very, very dangerous.”

Seahawks

Seahawks RB Chris Carson thinks that he and RB Rashaad Penny can be one of the best running back duos in the league in 2021.

“I think we can be one of the top rushing duos in the league,’’ Carson said, via Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. “We both bring a different feel to the game, like different attributes. But we complement each other so well. I feel like his limit is ridiculous once he starts getting his feet wet in the game. I think it’s going to be something special.’’

Carson felt the pressure of being injured during a contract year, and was worried about what his future would look like after the 2020 season.

“Man, that was my whole goal last season was to play 16 games,’’ Carson said. “And when it didn’t happen, going through that period was stressful.’’

Carson received calls from other teams this offseason, reportedly from the Jets, Patriots, and Panthers. Yet the former seventh-round pick was humble and opted to re-sign with the team that gave him a shot in the NFL.

It was definitely difficult,” Carson said. “Teams made offers. Some teams made it tough to decide to sign with the Seahawks. It was the team that gave me my first shot in the league. So it felt like it was the right decision. Me, I’m not supposed to be here. You know, the odds are a seventh-rounder doesn’t get to free agency like that.’’