Rams star Aaron Donald says he's in best shape of his life

Defensive lineman Aaron Donald was one of the players that missed significant time for the Los Angeles Rams last season due to injury, contributing to a severely disappointing performance by the team.

Not only is Donald back healthy and ready to go for the 2023 season, he has a pretty bold claim regarding where he is physically right now.

Donald told Haute Living that he is in the best shape of his life right now after undergoing ankle surgery in the offseason.

Along with that surgery, he also said he has significantly changed his diet and is trying to stay away from fried foods and sugars. 

“I’m in the weight room, conditioning, making sure that I’m able to move how I need to move. And honestly, I’m in the best shape of my life. I feel like my strength is where it needs to be. I’m trying to stay away from a lot of fried food, sugars, and things that can cause inflammation, and eat a lot of protein. If I eat certain bad stuff, I just feel like I have to work out. I’ve been doing it for so long that it’s just mental with me now. I grew up a chubby little kid, and I try as hard as I can not to get back to that chubby little kid. I’m scared of that guy [because] I like to take my shirt off and look good. So, I’m trying to make sure that I’m healthy for football, but also for life, period. And right now, my body is looking good.”

Training camp is the time of year for veteran players to proclaim that they are in top physical shape, and "best shape of my life" articles are pretty common around this time.

For the Rams sake, they need that to be true with Donald.

He is their best player and the most impactful player on their defense. The Rams have a lot of question marks in their secondary and are going to need to rely on players like Donald to be a disruptive force along the line to apply pressure and slow down opposing passing games.

Donald is one of the best defensive players the NFL has ever seen and has already won three defensive player of the year awards.

He was limited to just 11 games a years ago. Injuries to players like Donald, quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp all contributed to the Rams' 5-12 record in what turned out to be a disappointing Super Bowl title defense. With all of them back and ready to go this season and with head coach Sean McVay still leading the team, expectations should be significantly higher.