Steelers Exposed A Fractured Browns Locker Room As Jared Verse Says Teammates Didn't Have His Back

The Pittsburgh Steelers did more than beat the Cleveland Browns 27-6 on Sunday. Days later, the loss is still causing problems inside Cleveland's locker room, and Jared Verse is the one saying it out loud.

Verse, who spent the week before the game trash-talking the Steelers, said he was upset that his teammates did not come to his defense after guard Mason McCormick picked him up and slammed him to the turf on an extra point. McCormick was flagged 15 yards for unnecessary roughness on the play.

"The lack of reaction by those around me had upset me a lot," Verse said, via Pro Football Talk.

Verse said that play made him angrier than anything else in the game. He also said a similar play happened to defensive end Derek Barnett on the next field goal, and that is when he "lost it."

"We're not fighting for each other," Verse said.

To his credit, Verse did not put all of the blame on his teammates. He admitted that he never told anyone he planned to go after the Steelers and Steeler Nation before the game.

"I didn't do enough on my part, and we all got to pick it up," Verse said.

Steelers Left The Browns Pointing Fingers

Not everyone in Cleveland saw it the same way. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger said he did not see the slam until after the game.

"A lot of times there's a lot of stuff that goes on in the field that you don't see," Schwesinger told reporters. "If that's something that I had seen, definitely would've been going to his defense."

Verse also tried to move forward. He said complaining about the play would not change anything, and he pointed to the bigger picture in Cleveland.

"Crying about it, complaining about it's not going to change anything," Verse said. "We're 5-3, that's a good record for what we are supposed to be."

He also admitted his own play has not been where he wants it. "I think I've not done myself a service in playing the way I want," Verse said.

Browns Special Teams Coordinator Byron Storer also made it clear the team does not coach that kind of play. Head Coach Todd Monken put it more simply earlier in the week, saying "you are how you play, not how you talk."

That line hits home for Verse. The 2024 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year came to Cleveland in June in the trade that sent Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams, and he still does not have a sack through eight games with the Browns. Pro Football Focus credits him with 13 pressures.

Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith suggested Verse's teammates might prefer that he spend less time on trash talk and more time getting after the quarterback. It is hard to argue with that after Sunday.

Verse spent the week calling out the Steelers, including running back Jaylen Warren. Pittsburgh answered by running for 200 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries. Afterward, several Steelers made sure Verse heard about it, and SteelerNation noted at the time that some Browns players had already started to turn on him.

Now Verse is saying it himself. A team that spent the week talking got pushed around physically, and its loudest player is admitting the group did not stand together when it mattered.

That is the bigger issue for Cleveland. Trash talk only works when the player doing it backs it up, and the team around him is ready for what comes next.

The Browns are still 5-3 and just a game behind Pittsburgh in the AFC North, so this is not a team to write off. Cleveland also beat the Steelers 27-24 in Week 4. But the Browns head to New Orleans on Sunday trying to fix a locker room problem that started in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers, meanwhile, are 6-2 and resting on their bye week with a four-game winning streak. Head Coach Mike McCarthy's team made its statement on the field, and the Browns are still talking about it.

This story was produced with the help of AI and reviewed by SteelerNation editors.

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