ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills open up the season against the best defensive player in the league in Aaron Donald and the Los Angeles Rams.
Now a member of the Bills, Donald's former teammate Von Miller said there are no secrets to share with the offense on how to slow the defensive tackle down. He simply can’t be stopped.
“There is nothing. There is no secret. Like, there's nothing I can say like there is no weakness. ... It’s Aaron Donald," Miller laughed. "He is the greatest football player I've ever played with, and he's one of the greatest football players that ever played this game. That’s counting all the greats and all the football guys that have come through here, and Donald is one of those."
"There's nothing that I can say, you know. I'll be setting him up for failure if I ever tell him like, ‘If you just do this, you know you'll be alright.’ Like, he's he's good at everything.”
Bills quarterback Josh Allen said last preseason the first hit he takes each year quite literally "hits different." That hit is still pending after he stayed clean in the one series he’s played so far against the Denver Broncos.
Hopefully, for Allen’s sake, that first hit won’t be coming from Donald.
“He's one of one, and I think everybody knows that. You know, it’s scary to watch the film of him and just understand that you've got to go in with a plan to block him," Allen said.
"So he's extremely specialized in now taking on doubles and understanding that there's gonna be help on him, but it sometimes doesn't seem to matter. You know, he kind of gets his way.”
Donald has the accolades to back up his dominance. He's been the league's Defensive Player of the Year a record three times, has made the Pro Bowl in all eight of the seasons he's played, and has earned first-team All-Pro honors seven times. And now he's won a Super Bowl.
"He's a relentless competitor, a remarkable player," Bills center Mitch Morse said.
"It’ll be a tremendous competitive challenge. He’s a game changer, and you have to give him the respect that he deserves.”