Feb. 7, 2026, 12:31 p.m. PT

The Los Angeles Rams didn’t lose to the Seattle Seahawks because of their offense. It was the defense and special teams that let them down in the NFC Championship Game two weeks ago.

Jared Verse fully admits that, taking the blame for Los Angeles’ heartbreaking loss on the road in Seattle. He joined “The Pivot” podcast and shared some shocking statements about the Rams’ young defense and their mentality – both leading up to the game, and during it.

“We all hyped up all week,” he said. “We’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to beat them again. 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—-ing 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.’”

It’s one thing to be confident going into a game. It’s another to think the other team is going to lay down for you, especially in the NFC championship with a spot in the Super Bowl on the line.

The Rams’ defense is undeniably young, but they have enough leaders on that team who could’ve set things on the right path after some early struggles.

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“When that happened, everybody kind of started freaking out,” Verse said. “We were able to kind of ground ourselves again but because of our young mindset, like, ‘Oh yeah, we think we earned it. We think, oh yeah, this is a cake walk.’ Like, this is the league. Ain’t nobody going to lay down for you.”

“Our mindset was like, ‘Oh, we lost to them once, we beat them once, this is for all the marbles.’ And when we started having trouble, we didn’t know what to do.”

Verse isn’t pointing fingers, but he’s taking the blame himself for some of the defense’s issues against Seattle.

“Some of us on the defense, I’m going to take full blame, too,” he said. “There was a couple times where I’m like, ‘Bro, they’re running the other way. I don’t know what to do. I can’t chase him. 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 mentally shut down.”

Those are some alarming comments from one of the Rams’ top defenders, and someone who should be viewed as a leader. Los Angeles has plenty of talent on that side of the ball, but maybe a veteran leader could do them some good.