BEREA, Ohio — Wednesday marked the eighth OTA practice for the Cleveland Browns, the second day since the team traded star defensive end Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams and the first day the new addition from that trade, defensive end Jared Verse, got to work with his new team.
Verse had an early start on Wednesday, making his rounds in CrossCountry Mortgage Campus, meeting all of his new coaches, trainers and teammates before taking the field for his first OTA practice in orange and brown.
"Everybody I see quickly introduces themselves. I'm terrible with names, so I have to ask people's names a couple times, but it's good. It feels like home. You come in, everybody's saying hello to you, getting to know you, wants to know about this, about you, where you from, and it feels good here," Verse said after his practice session.
It's been a whirlwind 48 hours for the former Defensive Rookie of the Year and two-time Pro Bowler. Being shipped to Cleveland in the trade the Rams made to acquire Garrett was not something he anticipated, and a move that came with plenty of emotions.
"It caught me by surprise. I loved LA. I loved the coaches, the organization, my teammates, everybody a part of it, the staff, the fans. I loved the whole vibe of LA, Los Angeles and Rams and it was upsetting. I was upset for a good little bit of time. But when you're an athlete, you understand the nature of business. Everybody does what they think is best for their business and that's the situation that I'm in," Verse said. "I'm happy to be a part of the Browns. I'm happy that they believed in me and they were able to make that trade and bring me here, be with my teammates, be with everybody here. I truly do believe in everybody in the locker room. But it was upsetting at first, but you got two choices that you can either work or you can give up and I ain't never been a quitter.”
In fact, the first thing Verse wants fans to know is how much he cares about putting in that work.
"I'm about a lot of things. I'm a big family person. I love my family. I love my friends. I care about the people that are close to me more than anything. But the one thing I hold above all, besides God, because obviously God's above all, is work. Work is the most important thing to me. All I care about is lifting. All I care about is running. All I care about is how I can get faster, how I can get this step a little bit smaller, how I can translate this to the field, that's all I care about and all I care about is being the best me. That's all that matters," Verse said.
Wednesday was the first time that was put on display in Berea. The edge rusher likely could have watched from the side in this practice after landing in Cleveland not even 24 hours before, but he was there in uniform, running drills with his fellow defensive linemen, hitting the bags and sleds while getting acclimated to his new team.
Defensive end Alex Wright seemed to take Verse under his wing, side by side, for much of the practice.
Wright said some of the conversation was football, but a lot of it was simply getting to know the guy who will be lining up on the other side of things this season.
"Just 'How you feeling? Keep it real, how was it when you got the call? How was the flight over here?' I literally just met his parents like 10 minutes ago, but we were just talking about the basics of our defense, like I said, just getting him up to speed, just talking about stuff," Wright said. "We were kind of getting off it in practice as a D-line and just hearing him like, 'Yeah, I like this and I like the work. Oh, y'all showing me the standard.' And you're hearing that it's just like he wants to be a part of this and it sucks because like I said, nobody likes to have to transition and go somewhere else, but at the same time, with me and him just getting up the basics and me and Jacques talking, he already paired us up together just talking about stuff. So we've just been talking about the whole scheme and just the team and the defense and whatnot."
Wright was welcoming of the Browns' new pass rusher, but he also had to deal with the emotions of losing Garrett who he had grown very close with over the four seasons they played together.
Those emotions were a mix of disbelief, sadness, and uncertainty.
"I was shocked just like everybody else. Didn't want to believe it. Family calling me, players calling me, friends calling me and still trying to process it today. But also I just don't run from the feeling that 9-5 is gone. But at the same time, it kind of got a little personal with me, especially being in the football business, because I grew up here. I grew up with him, just going into my fifth year with him. I just pretty much used him as a sponge really," Wright said. "I was shocked for the whole Monday. It really sat on me. I was like, 'How is it going to be with him not on the other side?' So I mean that's all it was. So I mean it's Wednesday now, so the feeling started to go away a little bit, but like I told the team, I said, 'Just face the feeling that it's gone. Don't try to ignore it,' because it's just something about him that when he walked around this place, when you see him practice, it was just like he wrecked practice every day that he was out here. And in the meetings, we laughing and talking and stuff like that. So like I told them, I just said 'Don't ignore the feeling that he's gone, just face the feeling.' We talk about it and the more we talk about it, the feeling eases off, now you realize he's gone, now it's back to Browns football, just adding a new era."
It is, without question, going to be a new era of Browns football without Garrett, a face of the franchise and stalwart leader of the team.
Verse will forever be woven into the storyline of Garrett in Cleveland, but while that may be true, he plans to make his name stand apart in this new era with the Browns.
"Myles is a great player. I watch his film every day. I keyed in on a couple things he does, the moves he makes, the technicalities of every small aspect of his game. I've very much studied him and to know that I'm not here to fill his shoes. That's not my job," Verse said. "I'm not here to fill anyone shoes. Myles he's a size 13, Nikes, whatever they are. I'm a size 13 and half, size 14 Jordans. Everybody's different. I'm not here to fill his shoes. I'm here to bring my own. I buy my own. I'm here to work and I'm here to be the best version of me. The best version of me is going to be the best defensive player in the league. And the best defensive player in the league is going to play for the best defense in the league. And that's what I make myself a testament to."
Verse will continue ramping up his work with his new team as the Browns continue their offseason workouts, really getting acclimated next week as the team holds its mandatory veteran minicamp.
