KEY POINTS

  • NFL 2022-23 season will begin Thursday
  • The opening game is between Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills
  • Rams and Bengals broke into a fight last month during a practice session

Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald has opened up on the ugly incident during a joint practice with Cincinnati Bengals that saw the player swinging helmets, one in each hand.

Speaking to the media for the first time since the controversial practice session, Donald didn't say much about it. He only said he was happy that no one was hurt and wanted to solely focus on Rams' opening game of the NFL 2022-23 season.

NFL's season opener will take place between the Rams and Buffalo Bills at California's SoFi Stadium on Thursday.

"My main focus is Buffalo right now. I'm happy nobody got hurt in the practice, but my main focus is Thursday night against Buffalo right now," Donald told reporters, Yahoo Sports reported.

He also acknowledged that what he did was "dangerous."

When the 31-year-old NFL player was asked whether he understood the whole swinging helmets scene could have turned into a dangerous situation, the defensive player replied, "Yeah, for sure. Everybody protected each other, everybody got out of the situation clean, and healthy. So that's what matters. [I'm] ready for Week One."

Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams
Aaron Donald #99 celebrates with Los Angeles Rams Owner Stan Kroenke Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium on February 13, 2022 in Inglewood, California. The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

However, Donald was not protecting anyone on the field and he was only knocking helmets against them. He was on the offensive and was lucky he didn't seriously hurt someone.

When asked if he heard from his kids about the situation, he replied, "My kids didn't see."

Last month, a joint practice session between Rams and Bengals ended early after a fight broke out between their first-team offenses. A video, later on, revealed that multiple helmets were removed during the fight and Donald was spotted swinging a helmet multiple times.

While the player did not attend a media conference since the incident, he did speak last week on the "AP Pro Football Podcast," reiterating that "it was just a practice. It was football. I don't really want to go back to nothing negative that happened and talk about something that happened in a practice," reported ESPN.

After the incident, Rams coach Sean McVay said he didn't want to push the panic button ahead of the season-opener as it was just two teams defending each other.

Rams won the NFL title last season as they defeated AFC champions Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the Super Bowl LVI.