Jared Verse (knee) DNP on Wednesday

The star edge player will go after a limited session on Thursday and a full practice on Friday. Cleveland’s in a good place this week on the injury report heading into their matchup with the Steelers.

Both players emerged from their Week 7 win a bit banged up, with their return to practice Thursday a positive development toward an active game-day status. Right tackle Tytus Howard (concussion) remained sidelined, who will have one more opportunity to get on the practice field and remain asymptomatic to have a chance at playing against the Steelers in Week 8.

The Browns also received a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-round pick from the Rams. Verse is a rising star in the league who has totaled 12 sacks in 34 regular season games. The 25-year-old, however, became a key part in the deal that sent Myles Garrett to the Rams, as GM Les Snead reportedly wouldn’t take no for an answer in his endeavors to acquire the 2025 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Verse is a former first-round draft pick from the 2024 class and has two years left on his rookie deal, plus a fifth-year option that the Browns will need to decide on whether or not to pick up next offseason. He won’t completely fill the void left by Garrett, but verse has displayed a good knack for getting after the quarterback, generating 157 QB pressures and another 35 hits since entering the league, per PFF.

Rams head coach Sean McVay was unable to share details beyond saying the Rams “hope that he ends up being OK.” We hope so too. The Rams’ D/ST unit is far more potent with the defending Defensive Rookie of the Year on the field.

Verse was named the winner of the award after receiving 37 of the 50 first-place votes. The 24-year-old was a force for the Los Angeles defense in 2024 while picking up 4.5 sacks and forcing four fumbles. He led all edge players in Pro Football Focus’ charting with 66 hurries while helping the Rams to a division title. Quinyon Mitchell finished second with nine first-place votes, and Verse’s teammate Braden Fiske finished third.

Verse (6’4/254) worked his way up from the lower levels of college football, attending Albany for his first two seasons before transferring to Tallahassee to play for the Seminoles in 2022. He wasted little time making an impact at the FBS level, posting the eighth-highest PFF pass rush grade in the Power Five (88.6) with 17.0 TFL and 9.0 sacks, though he produced an elevated 27% missed tackle rate en route to being named First Team All-ACC. The Dayton, Ohio native would go on to exceed even those lofty standards this year, creating the second-most pressures in the nation (62) with a sterling 91st percentile pass rush grade that ranked fifth overall. An ACC quarterback’s worst nightmare, Verse was responsible for an 11.7% pressure rate (4th in P5) and 21.8% Win Rate (2nd in P5) in passing situations. Verse performed the full range of tests at the combine. He ran a 1.59s 10-yard split (95th%) and 4.58s 40-yard dash (9.78s) at 254 pounds, which are breathtaking times for his size. His 31 bench reps were five more than the next closest edge in the 2024 group, and second among all Combine defenders, for an extraordinary 9.60 Relative Athletic Score. He explodes into contact and unleashes a furious bull rush that can stagger even the most rooted OTs, which sets up a devastating push-pull move. Verse will sometimes lose sight of the ball carrier and over-pursue, leaving himself vulnerable to cutbacks. Still, he has a captivating power-edge profile with verified athleticism that bears a resemblance to Boye Mafe. After watching Aaron Donald retire this offseason, the Rams wasted no time retooling their pass rush by making Verse their first round-one pick since Jared Goff in 2016.

The ninth-ranked prospect in the transfer portal per 24/7 Sports, Verse (6'4/221) shined in his two seasons for the Great Danes. He was named rookie of the year in the Colonial Athletic Conference during the shortened spring season and amassed 9.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss this fall. He spent a lot of time talking to last year’s transfer edge rushers for the Seminoles Jermaine Johnson and Keir Thomas and their production stuck out to him in their first year with the program. Verse will have three seasons of eligibility remaining.