Coming into the season, the Cleveland Browns had reason to be excited about the addition of star defensive end Jared Verse. The team acquired him in the Myles Garrett trade, picturing him not so much as a replacement for Garrett, but as a player who could help reshape the hierarchy of the defense altogether, and do so at age 25. Verse had two Pro Bowl appearances in his first two seasons with the Rams, and had recorded 12 sacks and 45 quarterback hits in his first 34 NFL games. Pick the defensive stat and Verse was productive: 69 pressures in two seasons, 25 hurries, 124 tackles.

Pick the stat in 2026, and you’ll find that Verse is well behind where he was in Los Angeles. He does not have a sack in seven games with the Browns. He has, according to Pro Football Reference, just four pressures, zero hurries and 17 tackles. Hard to say he has lived up to anything close to his original billing.

Jared Verse ‘Is Creating Havoc and Disruption’

Despite that, the message from the Browns has been that Verse is doing just fine. The numbers say otherwise, and the fact that the Browns have been excellent defensively is a good signal of the progress made with Garrett gone, but the team is defending Verse’s struggles to the hilt.

Browns defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg was asked about Verse on Thursday: “You watch that last game, he’s got multiple plays where he is creating havoc and disruption. He’s a huge part of that goal line stand. And he’s continuing to find his ways to create pressure, to create disruption in the run game, to set edges, and I see it every day in practice. I see it the way he prepares. I see it within our conversations that he’s finding his inches, and I continue to see it going upward, the way he’s affecting games with his disruption. I’m really happy about it.”

Browns’ 4-3 System an Issue?

It’s been said that part of the issue for Verse is the change in technique that comes with moving from the Rams’ 3-4 defense to the 4-3 system of the Browns. He acknowledged he has had some difficulty, but said he is working on it.

Said Verse: “It definitely changes things because you have a little bit more you have to focus on, you have to rush a little bit more as a together unit …

“I might have made a mistake here or there, I might have won a few reps that in a 3-4 I might not have been able to dominate in. It has it’s pros, it has it’s cons, but every week I’m just trying to learn a little bit more.”