WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – In the third quarter of last Sunday's game against the Eagles, Rams outside linebacker Jared Verse showed exactly why he has been commanding double- and triple-teams this season.
Rushing off the left edge, he stabbed the chest of Philadelphia right tackle Fred Johnson, then swam past his shoulders to deliver a hit so hard, the force of it sent the ball flying from quarterback Jalen Hurts, whose eyes were downfield the entire time and thus didn't see Verse coming.
With that, Verse got his first sack of the season. Even with all the attention he's drawn so far this year, he knew he'd be due to get on the board eventually.
"I mean, it was cool," Verse said Thursday. "It's just a matter of time until it happens. It's kind of like a waterfall, once one little stone breaks, everything's coming through. I'm not worried about that."
Entering Sunday's Week 4 contest against the Colts, Verse has logged the fifth-most pass rush snaps among linebackers with 90, per Next Gen Stats. He checks in tied with four others for the 13th-most quarterback pressures for the position with 11. Verse is also one of 13 linebackers with one turnover caused by pressure, a group that includes teammate Byron Young.
Just like with defensive end Braden Fiske's versatility along the defensive line, the attention drawn by the gravity of Verse's pass rushing has helped create opportunities for teammates. Young has been one of those beneficiaries, as those opportunities combined with his own speed and strength have led to a team-high four sacks through the first three weeks.
"Everybody's feeding off of him, his energy and just being disruptive," Young told theRams.com. "If you see Verse, he always near the ball, he always near a quarterback, regardless if it's a sack or not. Like, he always near the quarterback. He always driving an offensive lineman to the quarterback. Just the type of player he is, disruptive. He definitely gets attention and just type of player he is, I feed off him. He's just getting better every week. Love playing with him."
Verse's tackle to limit Eagles running back Saquon Barkley to a one-yard gain in the first half of last Sunday's game showed he's capable of impacting the game in other ways. The Rams will need him to make an impact against the run and the pass facing a Colts offense ranked in the top three in the league in total yards of offense and scoring offense, with a run game led by running back Jonathan Taylor who won AFC Offensive Player of the Week for posting 102 rushing yards and three touchdowns last week against the Titans.
"He gets a lot of attention, and a lot of times when you get that attention, other guys get opps," defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. "He's been playing good. I think last week, he's in his stance, he's seeing the right things, he's playing good down-in and down-out. We see him as he's not just one of those guys that's a rusher coming and get a bunch of sacks, he's an every single down player that happens to be an elite rusher. He's playing physical, he's getting knock-back, he's playing hard, and he's exactly where we want him to be right now."
