Back to the Top News Newsfeed

Aldon Smith Is Playing Even Better Than You Think After Five Years Out of the NFL

Rams head coach Sean McVay was apparently curious about new Cowboy Aldon Smith, like the rest of the world, because on McVay’s first play-call of the season he went right at the pass-rusher taking his first snap of professional football since Nov. 15, 2015.

The Rams sent Robert Woods in jet motion after the snap, forcing the now 31-year-old defensive end to carry the unenviable responsibility of both chasing down the wide receiver and maintaining some kind of containment on Jared Goff. He was trapped, maybe as a way for McVay to get a gauge on one of the offseason’s biggest mysteries and evaluate his rust.