Jared Verse faults teammates after McCormick slam — SkimNews
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- Jared Verse said Wednesday he spoke to teammates about their lack of reaction after Steelers guard Mason McCormick was penalized for sweeping the legs of a leaping Verse and slamming him to the ground on a point-after try in Sunday's road loss to Pittsburgh.
- Derek Barnett was the target of a similar play on the next field goal, with Verse saying he lost it because Barnett was 'my brothers and my teammates' and that the lack of response 'upsets me very deeply.'
- Todd Monken said Monday that his message was that the Browns needed to 'speak with your play,' the standard he set one day after the road loss in Pittsburgh.
- Cleveland Browns were the target of Verse's pregame talk before the Week 8 game, with the 26-year-old defensive end saying the team planned on 'making Pittsburgh ours.'
- Jared Verse conceded he could have invited teammates into the conversation and warned them beforehand about the comments he planned to make toward the Steelers and Steelers Nation, adding 'I got to be better than that. I didn't do enough on my part.'
- Jared Verse described his own approach as deliberately verbal — 'I like to talk,' 'I like to attack things' — saying that is simply how he plays and moves around.
Why it matters: Verse's public call-out names the teammates who stayed silent after McCormick's penalty; coach Todd Monken's Monday standard was that the Browns 'speak with your play.' Verse also puts his own account on the line: he admitted he failed to warn teammates before the comments he made leading into the Week 8 game.
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