RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesBEREA ― The initial shock that came with being in the stunning Myles Garrett trade has long worn off for Jared Verse. It's why, as the now- Browns defensive end settled in for the second day of training camp, being in Northeast Ohio instead of Southern California didn't quite seem so foreign to him.
"It's good. It's good," Verse said before the Browns' second camp practice July 30. :I mean, I like it out here. I like it a lot. Ohio, that's where I grew up and everything like that. I think I look good in brown and orange, so I think I'm doing my thing with the colors and stuff. But no, it's good to be back around teammates and everything like that. You get that month and half off to digest everything and then you come back and you're just ready to work."
For Verse, he's long past the questions about "replacing" Garrett, the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and future Hall of Famer the Browns sent to the Los Angeles Rams for him June 1. He was at that point even shortly after the trade, although he reiterated "I'm not Myles, I'm not this guy, I'm not that guy, I'm Jared."
Verse, 25, has certainly been on a trajectory to be one of the better pass rushers in the league over his first two seasons. Twice, he's been named to the Pro Bowl, while he was NFL Rookie of the Year in 2024.,
However, the number that has been talked about with Verse as much as anything since he was dealt was his 12 sacks. That's for two combined years, not one.
Those don't tell the whole story for Verse, whom Pro Football Focus has credited with 189 combined pressures in two seasons. He's not running from that sack total, either, as he looks to increase it in his third season.
"I mean, it's just finishing," Verse said. "I mean, when you look at the numbers and everything like that, I'm never a big stat guy, big number guy, but to be translucent with it and to talk about the statistics over there, I'm one of the highest pressure rates. But pressures don't mean anything if you can't finish. Getting to the quarterback means nothing if you can't finish. Yeah, it throws him off a little bit and messes with his head, but sacks is what puts them back a little bit. Finishing is just my biggest part."
Verse was among many from around the league who were in Las Vegas earlier this month for the Sack Summit. The three-day event, which is co-hosted by future Hall of Fame pass rusher Von Miller, Raiders defensive Maxx Crosby and New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan, brings together dozens of the best pass rushers to collectively find ways to improve their craft.
The Summit included film study, including plenty of peer review and constructive criticism. There's also plenty of on-field work on developing new moves or fine-tuning the tried and true ones that have worked so far.
Verse's tape was among those broken down. The young pass rusher was a rapt listener.
"When my tape came up, Von and Maxx and Cam Jordan, they would quickly announce, 'hey, your power, best power in the league,'" Verse said. "'You could walk anybody back. Once you work a move off that, you'll be unstoppable.' You'll go from seven, eight, nine sacks to 20s, going into those higher numbers. And he was like, 'That's just what it takes.'
"And we were not only just talking about it when we got into the field, they was able to tell me, 'Hey, try this.' Von took me aside for a good 10, 15, 20 minutes. It was really giving me that vet presence of like, 'Hey, here's what you got to do. Try this move, try this move. It doesn't work for me, but this might work for you,' or, 'This works really well for me. Try this.'"
Verse returned to Berea this week with that experience still fresh in his mind. While the power rush will never not be in his repertoire, some of the moves and tips he picked up from Miller and others have been pulled out at times in order to see how they feel.
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It's been like a pro golfer working his swing or a pitcher testing out a new pitch as Verse worked to expand his pass-rush game over the first two days of training camp while he goes against left tackles Spencer Fano or Dawand Jones during the time on the field. It's going to continue going forward for him this preseason as he tries to break in those moves to the point where they feel comfortable enough for him to use them once the lights go on for the regular season.
"I mean, you’ve got to try it every day," Verse said. "You can't just pull anything out in-game because if you pull something out in-game and you look dumb, you're going to be all over social media. No, you’ve got to try that in practice and that goes for anything in life.
"You’ve got to practice it a hundred times, a thousand times, so you can't get it wrong. You can't just try it one time in practice and works and try it again because when you go up against these (San Francisco 49ers left tackle) Trent Williams, these (Buffalo Bills left tackle) Dion Dawkins, these real legit tackles, they're going to mess you up doing that."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What Jared Verse is doing to help increase his sack totals with Browns
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