Jared Verse has barely been a member of the Cleveland Browns for 48 hours, but he already sounds like the kind of leader this young team could quickly rally behind.
Speaking with members of the Browns media for the first time on Wednesday, Verse reflected on what’s been a whirlwind couple of days. From a few hours of shock and disappointment following Monday’s bombshell trade, to arriving in Cleveland on Tuesday night and reporting for team meetings early that next morning, the Browns’ new young star is still embracing the team that wanted him enough to justify moving on from a franchise legend and future first-ballot Hall of Famer in Myles Garrett.
Verse already appeared to be feeling better about things after his first official practice in Berea. Head coach Todd Monken went four months on the job without a face-to-face meeting with Garrett, an unfortunate truth that clearly rubbed him the wrong way.
It didn’t even take one day for Verse to give Monken and his staff the ultimate compliment.
“When you go onto a younger team, a younger situation, a lot of people — their heads are all over the place,” Verse said. “Some people are talking too much. Some people don’t take this seriously, don’t take that seriously. That’s not the problem here. The problem here is, like, everyone wants to work too much. Like, ‘Hey, slow it down. Hey, let’s figure out the little techniques with this stuff.’ Everybody here’s so focused, driven, so wanting to be the best version of themselves and I think that’s such a testament to the new coaching staff and to the foundation that everyone’s about to lay down.”
Jared Verse already sounds like the kind of leader Todd Monken needed
The challenge for Monken during the initial phases of his first offseason program has been getting full buy-in from his top veterans. Garrett’s absence and lack of communication with the new coaching staff has been well documented. Star cornerback Denzel Ward has also been skipping the voluntary workouts. Top wide receiver Jerry Jeudy skipped Monken’s first voluntary minicamp in April before reporting ahead of OTAs.
The Browns are fortunate to have a training camp roster rife with first- and second-year talent. Monken’s been able to put his young players in some competitive situations. The quarterbacks have been fully bought-in and competing since Day 1.
But it’s hard to truly start building a program until you have an established leadership hierarchy in the locker room. Monken could finaly start putting those initial blocks into place after Verse arrived on Wednesday morning.
Cleveland’s offseason program will kick up a notch on June 9 with Monken’s first mandatory, full-squad practice. With Garrett now in L.A., the Browns don’t have many lingering question marks outside of top position battles, which is how it should be.
Verse said all the right things on Day 1. He was honest about his initial disappointment to be leaving the Rams, but genuinely sounded excited to be joining a team that already seems to be buying into its head coach. That counts as some positive energy for Browns fans to latch onto right now.
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