According to the Rams' statement on Friday, defensive end Aaron Donald will face internal punishment for the helmet-swinging incident that occurred during a joint practice with the Bengals on Thursday. The league has not made any public statements.
The league has conceded that, while it can penalize teams for failing to govern their players, it cannot act against player misbehavior during joint practices. Furthermore, the Rams were unable to contain Donald.
Look at the image below, which USA Today's Cameron DaSilva tweeted. It depicts Donald slamming a helmet into a Bengals player's head. The empty helmet comes close to flattening thanks to Donald's amazing power.
If the league so chooses, it may adopt a position. The Personal Conduct Policy could suspend Donald. The NFL Players Association has the ability to and will take action. So what, then? There might occasionally be honor in putting up a brave fight.
However, the endeavor might highlight the existence of a significant flaw in player misconduct. The only way to close it was through collective bargaining. One NFLPA-affiliated source suggested on Friday that the league would propose to replace the power to penalize players for their conduct during joint practices with the development of a fair appeal process for Judge Sue L. Robinson's disciplinary rulings under the Personal Conduct Policy.
Additionally, the NFL may quietly inform the Rams that the team would face harsh penalties if Donald isn't suspended. Convincing the Rams to opt to play without Donald in the first game of the 2022 regular season against the Buffalo Bills, which is 12 days from now, would require a very severe penalty.
The Rams may punish Aaron Donald (or at the very least gently urge him to try not to do it again), but there is no indication that they will suspend him. Even while the majority of the media and supporters agree that Donald deserves to be benched for at least one game for engaging in fundamentally dangerous behavior that miraculously spared no one from injury, it seems unlikely that the team will and the league will go as well.
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