LOS ANGELES — On third-and-12 from the Indianapolis Colts’ 21-yard line, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula threw a curveball.
Jared Verse, the Rams’ Pro Bowl outside linebacker, moved to inside backer. Defensive linemen Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske moved to four technique over the offensive tackles, leaving Verse on an island with the Colts interior linemen. Verse danced forwards and back, trying to time up the snap count. Quarterback Daniel Jones made the mistake of letting the play clock run low, allowing Verse to hit the line of scrimmage at full speed.
Verse barreled over center Tanor Bortolini, who spread his legs to trip Verse and sending him flying through the air. But it did not matter; the damage was done. Turner twisted inside and had a free lane where Verse had left Bortolini on the turf. Jones had no choice but to throw the ball away as Verse, Turner and Byron Young converged on him.
“If I get a beat on your call, it’s over with. I’m coming from five yards deep, you’re not stopping me,” Verse said after the 27-20 victory. “I don’t care who you is, I’m coming down hard and that’s just how it was.”
It’s a good metaphor for how Verse’s second season has started. Two games in, he was frustrated by the additional attention he was demanding from offenses. The respectful double and triple teams might have produced additional opportunities for his teammates, but Verse wasn’t making the splash plays that fed his own energy.
But the past two weeks, the momentum has shifted in Verse’s favor. He’s had 11 pressures and two sacks, each of which has ended with a forced fumble. And he’s been stout in the run game with seven stops, per Pro Football Focus, indicating tackles that resulted in failed plays for the offense.
“I thought he was awesome [against the Colts],” Shula said Tuesday. “Really back-to-back weeks where he’s been playing hard, he’s been playing tough, he’s been playing physical in the run game. He’s made the game-changing plays and he’s been awesome. I just look forward for him to continue to build off that.”
But Verse doesn’t view himself as building one good game after another. He instead tries to move on from each performance as quickly as he can so that he is simply focusing on the task at hand.
“I try to wipe my whole memory clean after every game,” he explained Tuesday. “Everything can change in a snap. I can go out for the next game all high and everything like that and then we have a bad play, they gash us for 30 and now I’m in a bad mood because I was high all week. I want to focus on the next play and that’s it.”
The Rams are trying to find unique ways to utilize Verse’s skill set, like his look at inside linebacker against the Colts. Verse lined up in the spot six times in 2024, but Sunday’s appearance was his first of 2025, an idea pitched to Shula by outside linebackers coach Joe Coniglio and pass rush coordinator Drew Wilkins.
It was a play that Verse had been pushing to be included in a game plan, but even he was surprised when it was called Sunday.
“I loved it,” Shula said. “It’s fun to just move him around, he’s a great player. Anytime we can get those guys in spots where they can rush and use all their skill sets, you always want to do that.”