The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns are about to play the most important regular season game in their rivalry in decades. Naturally, the two sides are engaging in trash talk beforehand.
While appearing on The Rich Eisen Show this week, Cameron Heyward was asked to respond to comments Browns edge rusher Jared Verse made after Cleveland defeated Pittsburgh in Week 4. Following the game, Verse argued the Steelers were dirty.
Heyward kept his answer professional, but he also sent a direct message to the Browns.
“Double teaming, sliding, chipping, are those not allowed in our game? Yeah, I got the bruises to prove it. But we don’t whine about it, baby. It’s part of the game,” Heyward said Tuesday. “So, I’m looking forward to this game. It’s gonna be a fun game.
“Both teams are in position to do a lot of work in this division, as they say. The AFC North is on fire, and I’m glad I’m in the kitchen because I like it that way.
“But those were words that were said, and they will be addressed.”
The Steelers will host the Browns at 1 pm ET at Acrisure Stadium. The winner will move into sole possession of first place in the AFC North.
Each team will enter the matchup with a 5-2 record.
What Jared Verse Said About Steelers
Eisen admitted he was purposefully stirring the pot in the Steelers-Browns rivalry. Right before he asked Heyward about Verse, he played a clip of what the Browns edge rusher said about the Steelers after Week 4.
“They were talking crazy,” Verse said about the Steelers on October 1, via ESPN’s Justin Cooper. “I was telling them, ‘You’re double-teaming, y’all sliding, y’all garbage…’
“It’s going to be a good time when I see them again.”
Heyward laughed at Verse’s comments and then asked Eisen and producer Chris Brockman if the things the Browns edge rusher reference were illegal.
In a sarcastic, playful tone, both Eisen and Brockman said those acts were legal. Heyward then went into his rebuttal, where he called Verse a baby.
Verse has been known to deliver trash talk to division opponents throughout his career. He did that often to the Seattle Seahawks when he was with the Los Angeles Rams. Verse is doing the same ahead of his second Steelers matchup.
Steelers fans have heard the “dirty” label for the team many times previously. So what Verse said isn’t really anything new. What’s new is the heightened importance in this Steelers-Browns matchup.
The two teams met in the playoffs at the end of the 2020 campaign, but the Steelers and Browns have rarely played a crucial matchup since the Browns returned to Cleveland in 1999.
But this week, first place is on the line. The Steelers are also trying to avoid a Cleveland sweep for the first time since 1988.
That’s enough to make the next edition of Steelers-Browns enticing. Verse and Heyward trading jabs is just adding a cherry on top of the exciting matchup.
Steelers’ Cameron Heyward Fires Message to Browns in Response to Jared Verse