Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay says he won't put an "invisible deadline" on Aaron Donald to come out of retirement but added that he hopes the former star defensive tackle makes a decision "sooner than later."
McVay discussed Donald's status after Saturday's preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, telling the Los Angeles Times that he wants to give Donald as much time and space as possible to have "clarity."
"He's put himself in a position to be able to say yes or no," McVay told the Times. "I think he's earned that right to have clarity on that. We're not at that point quite yet."
Donald, who spent his entire 10-year career with the Rams before retiring in March 2024, has been mulling a comeback in recent weeks and worked out with the team earlier this month.
NFL teams are required to trim their rosters from 90 players to 53 on Aug. 30, but McVay insisted he won't put a hard timeline on Donald.
"We have some loose things where we've identified you know dates that we'd like to be able to hit," McVay told the Times. "But what I don't want to have is any sort of unnecessary pressure on him if there's some unforeseen circumstances."
Donald, 35, joined the Rams for a workout Aug. 5 and "looked outstanding," according to McVay. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year began to entertain the notion of a comeback in early June after the Rams traded for Myles Garrett and has been working to get back in football shape.
"We've had some tentative discussions behind the scenes," McVay said. "There's a lot of stuff, without getting too granular with it. ... He knows himself in terms of, 'Am I able to stack back-to-back days? Am I able to do some of the benchmarks' that he's set out for himself."
McVay told the Times that he doesn't want to "put some sort of invisible deadline on something that doesn't exist in my mind" and added that he is pleased with the current state of the Rams' roster regardless of Donald's ultimate decision.
"I feel great about our football team as it currently stands, and I know he'll add value if he decides to come," McVay said.
ESPN's Sarah Barshop and The Associated Press contributed to this report.