On Sunday, Aaron Donald will return to his hometown, Pittsburgh, to face the Steelers. Now a two-time Defensive Player of the Year for the Los Angeles Rams, Donald will get a warm welcome from those that witnessed him grow.

Donald has no motivation to put on a show for his hometown, however. He is as motivated as they come. There isn't an exact science to his motivation, though. It's who he is, as Rams head coach Sean McVay alluded to on Friday.

He's one of the rare players — if things continue on this trajectory — what I think these great players look like,” said McVay, via NFL.com. “You talk about, ‘What's the difference between the good ones and the great?' It's the talent, but then it's using that talent and working as hard as you possibly can to maximize that talent. There is never complacency that sets in. You continue to come away impressed with just his overall athleticism. I'm just as impressed with his consistency in terms of how he works. Nobody's more intrinsically motivated than him, and I think that's why he's great.”

Donald's intrinsic motivation has leaped him from a Pittsburgh native stand out to the best defensive player (or player, depending on who you ask) in the NFL. Though the receiver of countless double-teams, he produces as so. Donald, via rushing in the interior, has five sacks on the season, four of those coming in the last three games. In 2018, he led the NFL in sacks (20.5) and set the record for most by a defensive tackle.

Donald doesn't need to put on a show tomorrow in Pittsburgh. But he will.