Head coach Sean McVay and the rest of the Los Angeles Rams haven’t seen star defensive end Aaron Donald for a while as he continues his holdout while the team negotiates a new contract. Although, there’s been talk that the record-setting deal which would finally see him return is close to getting done.

McVay remains optimistic that that is indeed the case. Per Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times, McVay is hopeful that they can have Donald back as soon as this week in order to have him ready for the season opener.

Re Aaron Donald, McVay said no stringent timeline to report to play in opener, but to fully acclimate schematically and physically from football perspective, “I'd say you’d like to have him by the end of this week.” Of course, first they have to get deal done.

Donald, who also held out last year, finally reported on Sept. 9, which saw him miss the team’s season opener as a result. Although, that didn’t prevent him from having another spectacular season which saw him win the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Based on Donald’s recent pictures, the Rams shouldn’t be too worried about his physical condition when he returns. But still, they would obviously prefer to have their prized defensive player back as soon as possible in order to get on the same page with all of the new pieces on defense.

But before the Rams can worry about all of that, they must first focus on the main task that’s still at hand, which is to get Donald’s massive new contract all sorted out once and for all.