Aaron Donald was "chomping at the bit" to get his NFL resurrection under way, but Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay insists he had to put the team in the right position first.
Australia will host its maiden regular-season NFL game when the Rams face bitter rivals the San Francisco 49ers at a packed MCG on Friday morning.
But Los Angeles will not have one of their biggest recruits, Donald, in Melbourne after a last-minute decision to leave him in California.
The 35-year-old, considered one of the best defensive tackles in the game, retired in 2024.
But he inked a shock deal with the Rams ahead of the season, meaning his first match would have been in Australia.
It added another level of intrigue to the historic clash, considering the team had also poached last season's AP defensive player of the year Myles Garrett from Cleveland.
"He (Donald) has had a two-year layoff. Even though he's taking great care of himself, we want to make sure that we're putting him and really our team in the right position," McVay told reporters.
"I know he was chomping at the bit, wanting to be able to play and feel the excitement that you can feel when we're here."
Donald joined the Rams partly because of Garrett's trade, and they are set to become a key part of helping the side's Super Bowl hopes, despite never playing together.
But McVay backed his current glittering defensive roster to get the job done against the 49ers.
"We've got a bunch of great players. Aaron will add to that," he said.
"(Kansas City recruit Trent McDuffie) his production, his mental and physical toughness, I mean, he checks all the boxes for everything that we're looking for."
Los Angeles enter this season as Super Bowl favourites after reaching the NFC championship last campaign and luring big names to add to their already star-studded roster, which includes reigning MVP Matthew Stafford and receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.
"I'm so happy that Aaron Donald is not going to play," 49ers legend Jerry Rice said in Melbourne on Thursday.
"I was sweating bullets, man, because both those guys (Donald and Garrett) on the field ... that could be a problem."
Although the Rams are intent on underlining their status on Friday, they also need to adjust to Melbourne after landing about 24 hours before the game.
The Rams plan to trick their bodies into believing they are still in California, so when the match kicks off at 10.35am (AEST) at the MCG, Los Angeles will feel like it's 5.35pm, which is when the match starts on the US West Coast.
