LA Rams CB Derion Kendrick expected to play against Pittsburgh Steelers despite arrest

Despite being in police custody for two days following his Monday arrest, Los Angeles Rams cornerback Derion Kendrick is expected to play in Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the former Clemson and Georgia defender said. Kendrick said via ESPN that he lost several pounds while in custody and has been working on getting back into game shape ahead of kickoff.

According to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Kendrick was arrested in Hollywood early Monday after a traffic stop and charged with two misdemeanor gun offenses.

“I think there’s certain circumstances and situations that arise that you always use your values and principles to be able to make decisions,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “I trust this kid’s heart. I believe in him. I also believe in forgiveness and understanding, and there’s certain things that we can use to be able to learn from and then there’s certain mistakes that people make that maybe it’s a little bit different conversation.

“But based on my understanding of what occurred, I feel like this is something that we can move forward with.”

Kendrick said he’s working on avoiding being a distraction to his team moving forward.

“Just teaching me how to move and just how to move out here anyways,” Kendrick said. “To get my own security or get a driver to drive me around or stuff like that, just so I won’t be followed or whatever the case may be.”

Kendrick, a sixth-round pick in 2022, originally signed with Clemson as a former five-star prospect before ending up at Georgia. He was previously arrested in 2021 on weapons charges.

“It was a similar type of situation, but there were some different dynamics that existed in this one,” McVay said. “And so those are things that are important to us. But I always believe you guys hear me talk about the football character and different things like that. I think some of these things, when you look at it as a whole and you say, do I think this makes him a bad person? No, I do not.

“… I feel totally different based on our values and principles, but based on the information that I have, we definitely weigh the backgrounds and all that kind of stuff heavily. But it’s also getting to know the person and then when certain situations arise, how do you help them navigate through it? How do you make sure that there’s an empathy, but there’s also an understanding of, all right, what are our standards and how can we move forward the right way? And then where are we at in regard to let’s make sure things like this don’t occur again. And if they do, then maybe there’s a different conversation and a dialogue that I’m having with you guys as well.”

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Last summer during training camp, Aaron Donald was always the first Rams player on the field.

And he was there early: Routinely 45 minutes before the workout began.

The three-time NFL defensive player of the year made his way to the area cordoned off for defensive line work, where he would plop down onto large pads or the base of a tackling dummy and quietly reflect.

Donald, who hinted at retirement after the Rams won Super Bowl LVI to end the 2021 season, carries a salary-cap number of $26 million in the second-to-last year of his contract.

The seven-time All-Pro came back from season-ending ankle surgery in 2022, and has recorded two-and-half sacks and eight tackles for losses for a Rams team that evened its record to 3-3 with a 26-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals last week.

On Sunday at SoFi Stadium, Donald faces his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers.

It’s the third time in his 10 seasons with the Rams that he will play against the team that he and his family grew up supporting. Donald played against the Steelers in St. Louis in 2015, and at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh in 2019.

Donald, however, acknowledges that he still follows a franchise that has won six Super Bowl titles.

“I still consider myself a Steelers fan, obviously, until we gotta play them,” he said. “I still look to see if they’re doing good.”

Donald grows animated when he recalls former Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes’ game-winning, toe-tap catch against the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII at the end of the 2008 season. He mentions other memorable plays made by former Steelers stars James Harrison, Jerome Bettis and Ben Roethlisberger.

“A lot of good memories,” Donald said, adding with a laugh, “I don’t want to keep praising them too much!”

With 105½ sacks and counting, Donald is a lock to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after he retires.