How Jared Verse is dealing with 'mental block' in debut Browns season
· Yahoo Sports
BEREA ― Another week has gone by for Jared Verse. Another week where the Browns defensive end failed to make a significant statistical impact on the game.
For those who have watched Verse even back to his college days, it's perplexing. For Verse himself, it's at a level even beyond that.
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What Verse believes it goes back to has nothing to do with an offensive lineman's block. Instead, it's all about a completely different block that's within himself.
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"I think it was definitely a mental block," Verse said Nov. 12. "I train my body every day to push myself to the limits of what I'm physically capable of doing. So I don't think it was any issue with my body, but I think I've taken the steps to figure out what it was after meeting with a couple people and everything like that. But to keep it from getting further than that, I'm just sticking with that."
The Browns' Week 9 overtime loss at the New Orleans Saints marked the ninth consecutive game Verse failed to record a sack. For the signature piece in the return Cleveland received from the Los Angeles Rams in the trade that sent future Hall of Famer Myles Garrett out west, it continues to be something that unignorable.
It's even less ignorable when put in the stark contrast that Garrett returned from the injured reserve list that same day and wrecked the Washington Commanders to the tune of three sacks and a forced fumnble. It was, Verse hopes, the the nadir for his season.
So Verse decided to do something about it this week. It had nothing to do with film study or extra practice reps, even if he wants to keep the details more to himself.
"I would more so prefer to keep that to myself," Verse said. "I'm excited for it, but I took a lot of time to self-build and I met with (team psychiatrist) Dr. (Mayur) Pandya a little bit and I figured out what my issue was."
Verse arrived in Cleveland the rising star in the league, a 25-year-old physical specimen who's trajectory was pointing upward. Not only that, but he exuded a self-confidence one would expect from a dominant pass rusher, saying he wasn't looking to fill Garrett's shoes but just be himself.
As the Browns prepare to face the Houston Texans Nov. 15, Verse isn't just lacking in sacks. He's lacking in almost any significant stat relating to defense.
Pro Football Focus credits Verse with 15 total pressures, six of which came in a Week 3 win over the Carolina Panthers. His 20 total tackles are tied for 12th on the team, while his six penalties committed ― five accepted ― are tied for third on the team.
"Obviously, I'm upset with the way I've been playing," Verse said. "I don't think it's anything physical. It was nothing wrong with my body. It's nothing like that. I think it was the mental aspect of the game and I think I've attacked it very well these last couple of weeks. But I think this past week is a big key thing that I've done that I'm very excited for this next week.
The nine consecutive games without a sack is the longest single-season stretch without a sack for Verse in his career. He went the final eight games of his rookie season in 2024 ― when he was voted NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year ― without a sack, then didn't get a sack in the first two games of the 2025 season.
Verse, who has 12 career sacks, spent the offseason working on improving those sack totals, including attending the famed Sack Summit in Las Vegas in the summer. While the solution to the issue hasn't shown itself yet to him, he understands it can't be something that happens other than through maintaining a steady routine.
"You got to keep struggling," Verse said. "You can't do anything more than what you can do. You can't go out there and start doing some crazy things like I'm training with a monk or nothing like that. You just got to keep working."
Chris Easterling can be reached at [email protected]. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How Jared Verse is dealing with 'mental block' in debut Browns season
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