The Cleveland Browns are currently gearing up for Sunday's game on the road vs the New Orleans Saints. The Browns are coming off an ugly road loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, dropping their record to 5-3 in the process.
In that game, Browns star pass rusher Jared Verse was thrown violently to the ground by Steelers offensive lineman Mason McCormick, which was seemingly in response to Verse's trash talk to the Steelers during the prior week, which elicited a reply in the media from Cam Heyward.
Now, Verse has dropped his reaction to the incident.
“That honestly could have put me in a position to not be able to finish the season, put me in a position to change my life in a very bad aspect,” he said, per Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team on X, formerly Twitter.
Meirov also reported that “Verse says he was upset his teammates didn’t stand up for him after #Steelers G Mason McCormick threw him to the turf—and he had that conversation with them.”
Indeed, many were puzzled when Verse's Browns teammates stood by the wayside in the wake of the violent play, which could have seriously injured Verse.
Verse has been having a strong season for the Browns after being traded there from the Los Angeles Rams as part of the blockbuster deal for Myles Garrett, and Cleveland overall has defied expectations under first-year head coach Todd Monken, still very much alive in the AFC playoff race as the season approaches its midpoint.
Perhaps it's a good thing that there will be no further matchups between the Steelers and Browns this season.