After being eliminated by the Seahawks in the NFC title game and watching them win the Super Bowl two weeks later, the Rams’ Jared Verse didn’t mince words when discussing his feelings regarding his rivals up north.
“They’re a division rival, all that good stuff. But, like, I genuinely don’t like them,” Verse said on “The Pivot” podcast last week. “l got, like, a disdain in my heart for them. Like, I hate them. I don’t like the Seahawks at all. There’s nothing I like about them. I don’t like their players. There’s nobody I like about their staff. I don’t like them.
“But when we play them, the whole team’s kind of like that. Where, like, you have your best friend on the sideline. You don’t like them. Like my mom could be wearing Seahawks colors and like that’s my OPP that day.”
For the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2024, it wasn’t the first time Verse has opened up about the Seahawks.
After Seattle’s 31-27 victory that clinched a spot in the Super Bowl, Verse took the blame for the loss, mainly the defense.
Verse said the Rams were “hyped up all week” and had the mentality that the game would be a “cakewalk.”
Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters
California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!
California Post App: Download here!
Home delivery: Sign up here!
Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!
“We’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to beat them again,’” he said. “We know what we learned from last time. And then when we start having trouble — early on, they throw a big play, everybody’s kind of like s—–ng the bed.”
“Like, ‘Oh, what do we do now? This isn’t going the way we thought this was going to go. They’re not laying down,’” he admitted.
“And when we started having trouble, we didn’t know what to do,” Verse said. “Like, some of us on the defense, some, you know, I’m going to take full blame, too,” he added.
“Like, there were a couple of times I’m like, but they’re running the other way. Like, I don’t know what to do. I can’t chase. Like I’m not that fast. I can’t chase him on the backside. What do I do? So when we had some troubles, we just kind of, like, mentally shut down.”
While the loss still stings for Verse and the Rams, the future remains bright.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford, fresh off winning the NFL MVP award, announced he would return next season to help lead the league’s best offense again.
As for the defense, Verse and Co. will have to improve, but there’s plenty of motivation after watching the Seahawks hoist the Lombardi Trophy.