Jared Verse is looking forward to his next encounter with the Los Angeles Rams, but he still has some insight into his former team’s current situation with retired 10-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Aaron Donald.
Donald has been the biggest lingering question for the Rams this offseason.
He has teased and hinted at returning to the gridiron after retiring following the 2023 season. But Verse dumped cold water on the idea.
Jared Verse Doubts Aaron Donald Returns to Rams
GettyJared Verse spoke candidly about Aaron Donald possibly returning to the Los Angeles Rams.
Donald’s potential return to the Rams has been sparked by LA’s trade for Myles Garrett, for whom they dealt Verse as part of a package to the Cleveland Browns this offseason. Donald specifically noted that the move got him reconsidering his previous stance of staying retired.
Verse, who infamously challenged Donald to a workout and ended up on the wrong side, did not doubt Donald’s ability to come back.
Instead, he suggested it was the 2021 Super Bowl champ’s desire that may not be there.
“Man, when a lot of people retire, they done for good. But if anybody could unretire and come back and play, it’d be AD,” Verse said during an interview with “Good Morning Football” host Seth Rollins on July 15. “But I genuinely–me, personally–I don’t believe he’s unretiring until he says, ‘I’m coming back.’ When he says he’s doing something, when he says, ‘I’m retired,’ he’s retired. If he says he’s coming back, he’s coming back. Until I hear from the horse’s mouth, I ain’t hearing nothing else.”
Donald has noted that it was indeed his passion for the game and all that it took for him to be ready and available for games that were gone.
He said that fire must be there for him to return.
To that end, Donald recently worked out at the Rams’ facilities, which led to Rollins’ question for Verse. It has been described as a trial to see how his body and mind responded to his first taste of the grind in two years.
Jared Verse Gets Honest About Rams Trade
GettyJared Verse did not expect to be traded from the Los Angeles Rams.
Verse was asked about his feelings when learning about his trade from the Rams to the Browns this offseason, and he did not mince words, speaking just as candidly as he did about Donald.
“I’d be lying to y’all if I said it didn’t hurt, if it didn’t bother me. You build relationships with people, you build a routine. Then, you start getting close and start imagining your whole career in one place. And then, you don’t get a warning. It just kind of pops up on you one day, and you just got to swallow. It’s a big pill you got to swallow. You’re like, ‘All right, it changes everything.’ I got to look around for a little while, talk to my teammates and tell them like, ‘Hey, yo…,’ whatever,” Verse told Rollins.
“Once I got to Cleveland, I met the coaches, I met my teammates, I met the staff, I saw the vision that they not only have for me, but for the whole team. I started getting excited; I started getting hyped up. I was like, ‘Man, forget this offseason, this little camp, preseason. Let’s get right to the season right now.”
Verse is still just 24 years old, and he was the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year and is a two-time Pro Bowler. So, the Rams paid a hefty sum for Garrett, with Donald being a potential bonus.
Jared Verse Reveals Reason for Message to Former Teammates
GettyJared Verse wanted to break the news of his trade to his teammates directly.
Verse also drew attention following the trade for telling his former Rams teammates to beat their NFC West rivals, the Seattle Seahawks.
“It’s because those aren’t just my teammates. Those are genuinely my brothers, are people I spend a lot of time around, somebody I built a good culture around, somebody I build a lot of rapport with. People that I generally love being around,” Verse said.
“When you go to battle and you go to war with these guys, I feel like they deserve to hear from me. They didn’t have to hear from the news side: ESPN, SportsCenter. This journalist or that journalist. I wanted them to hear from me so it felt more personal and realize, ‘Hey, this is the reality of the situation. I’m not going to be here no more. I’m not going to be able to see the fruits to the work that I put in here. But hey, y’all boys go out there. Y’all go dominate. Hey, and hopefully I’mma see y’all at some point. Don’t worry about it.’”
That meeting will have to come in an improbable Super Bowl matchup.
Verse and the Browns are not on the schedule for Garrett (and, possibly, Donald) and the Rams this coming season.
Jared Verse Delivers Strong Words About Aaron Donald Returning to Rams