Alex Anzalone on Baltimore’s explosive offense: “We’ve got to be ready to go”.
Alex Anzalone on Baltimore’s explosive offense: “We’ve got to be ready to go”.
Los Angeles – Jared Verse will talk.
The Los Angeles Rams’ second-year outside linebacker will talk to the media, to teammates, to opponents, to opposing fans and to pretty much anyone else associated with football.
Ahead of Sunday’s return visit to Philadelphia, where Verse earned the ire and respect of Eagles fans for his trash talk ahead of January’s NFC divisional-round playoff game, he has no intention of stopping anytime soon.
“I’m pretty loud, I’m pretty vocal,” Verse said. “I’m pretty, like, aggressive, like I’m gonna get in your face. I’m (gonna) yell at you, I’m gonna talk crazy. After the game, it’s all love. But when we in between the white lines, those 60 minutes, like, you gonna really hate me.”
The boisterousness with which Verse expresses himself is equaled by the pass rush skill the 2024 first-round draft pick has displayed during his young NFL career. Verse’s impressive rookie season ended with him getting two sacks and three tackles for loss in a 28-22 postseason loss to the eventual Super Bowl champions, which – combined with his willingness to engage with the equally energetic Philadelphia public – seemingly left no ill will between the two sides.
Even with that mutual appreciation, Verse stands by his distaste for the Eagles, which formed while attending high school in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
“My feelings are roughly the same, but like it is with everyone, I respect people that not only respect me, but that stand on business,” Verse said. “They stood on business with the situation. They came with their energy. After the game, I tipped my hat off to them. They tipped it back.”
Teammate Byron Young said the energy Verse brought on a snowy January afternoon in Philadelphia has been a constant feature in the Rams’ locker room.
For Young, a third-year outside linebacker operating on the other side of the defensive front, the gregarious Verse was instrumental in helping him become more expressive on and off the field.
“Like, I’m typically a quiet guy,” Young said. “He came in talking trash every day, and got me on my (expletive). … It made me better. Made me a better person. Made me more hungry and got me more, you know what I’m saying, talkative. I like it.”
Pairing Verse and Young, along with defensive tackles Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske, has helped the Rams recharge their pass rush following the retirement of Aaron Donald after the 2023 season.
Together, the defense has eight sacks through two games and ranks third in the league by getting to the quarterback on 13.3% of dropbacks. Even though Verse does not have a sack or tackle for loss early in his sophomore season, defensive coordinator Chris Shula noted how Verse’s presence is helping to create opportunities for his teammates to make disruptive plays.
Verse sees being the focus of blocking schemes as part of the challenge that comes with trying to get to the next level as a player.
“The greats get that attention. The greats break through,” Verse said. “So I just got (to get) past this, the next phase, this next wall, this next mountain. Once I’m past that, we’ll be cooking with oil again.”
And even if the stat sheet doesn’t necessarily reflect it, Verse has moved opponents backwards with his physical and verbal abilities. The latter helped create a false start in the Rams’ season-opening win over Houston.
“It gets in their head and it gets them thinking,” Young said of Verse’s constant chatter. “The false starts, the guy false starts twice, I feel like Verse got in his head a little bit on the second one. That was pretty funny, though.”
NFL kickoffs require new set of skills
The biggest gaffe of the NFL season so far may have occurred in Pittsburgh last weekend, when a Steelers rookie let a kickoff bounce into the end zone and left the ball sitting there, apparently unaware that Seattle could – and did – score a touchdown by falling on it.
That type of mistake is a coach’s nightmare, but for the league it was probably a sign of progress. Kickoffs are no longer a dull formality. After more rule tweaking this season, it really does feel like anything can happen.
“Is this better than 12 touchbacks a game? Yes,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.
The NFL introduced the so-called dynamic kickoff last year, limiting how far the coverage team has to run and establishing a landing zone inside the 20-yard line. This year, touchbacks on kicks that reach the end zone on the fly put the ball on the 35 instead of the 30. Now there’s a big incentive for kickers to land the ball between the 20 and the goal line, and that’s altered the nature of the job.
“Essentially, what we used to do on kickoffs is almost obsolete for most kickers,” Tennessee Titans kicker Joey Slye said. “I’m having honestly more of a trouble keeping it in play out of the end zone than really past the 20. So I think a lot of kickers are having that issue as well.”
Booming the ball into – or through – the end zone for a touchback used to be a perfectly good option. Even last season, that approach was common. With touchbacks putting the ball on the 35, however, it makes more sense to try to force a return with a shorter kick. If the ball doesn’t make it to the 20, then the opposing team takes over on its own 40 – not that much worse for the kicking team than the 35 after a touchback.
And if the ball hits the ground before it reaches the return man, that brings even more uncertainty into play.
“It’s not a basketball, and you don’t know how it’s going to end up ricocheting off the ground doing a bunch of different things,” Miami Dolphins special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman said. “So the biggest thing that we tell our players is, hey, once it’s on the ground, it can roll anywhere. And that’s the best part about the kick.”
For kickers, there’s been an adjustment.
“I think it takes away when you have a good kicker because good kickers, you separate yourself by being able to kick it higher and farther and placing it, and the hang time and all that,” Bills kicker Matt Prater said. “But now, hang time’s irrelevant and distance is irrelevant. So for young strong guys, I think it takes away their strengths.”
The touchback rate on kickoffs has plummeted from 65.5% last season to 16.7% in 2025. That’s resulted in almost no change in post-kickoff field position, which has averaged right around the 30-yard line this season and last, but there’s been an uptick this year in action, unpredictability and variety.
Kaleb Johnson was the poor Pittsburgh return man who let the ball go through his hands and into the end zone, allowing George Holani of the Seahawks to recover the live ball for a TD. Although distance isn’t a priority anymore for kickers, they do have a chance to show off their creativity trying to create tricky bounces for returners.
“They’re trying to get it where it comes out like a knuckleball,” Titans special teams coordinator John Fassel said. “It’s a combination of a soccer corner kick and Phil Niekro throwing a knuckleball, and it’s coming at you with all kinds of curves and swerves.”
That puts more pressure on return men to catch the ball on the fly or limit the bounces – while knowing if the ball bounces into the end zone for a touchback, it goes to the 20, but if it rolls out of bounds before the goal line, it’s put on the 40. That’s a lot to think about in a short period of time.
“You can’t really simulate those in practice because I can’t have Joey kick those all day long. It’ll wear him out,” Fassel said. “We did it on the JUGS, but that was way too easy. So, honestly to handle those ‘dirty balls’ is just going to take experience. If I can’t get to it on the fly, about how far behind it do I have to be to one-hop it? A two-hop is a little bit dangerous.”
With all that to consider, it’s no wonder Johnson and the Steelers were victimized by a fluke touchdown.
“We actually ended up showing one on Friday very similar to our returners,” Aukerman said. “Now, that exact experience that happened there at Pittsburgh wasn’t the one I showed, but it was like, ‘Hey guys, when the ball is in the end zone and we haven’t touched it, we have to go back there and kneel on the ball.’ … That’s another teachable moment.”
Chargers aim for 3-0 start
Inglewod, Calif. – Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers are looking to open the season 3-0 for the first time since 2002 with a third straight victory over an AFC West opponent.
The Denver Broncos (1-1) want to get back to winning after a critical penalty led to a one-point loss at Indianapolis last week.
“You only play six of them and this will be the third one,” Chargers safety Derwin James said. “You have to make them all count. Not like every game isn’t important but these division games mean a lot.”
They’ll match up Sunday at SoFi Stadium in the Chargers’ home opener. LA beat Kansas City in Brazil and the Raiders in Las Vegas.
Call him Coach Mack
Linebacker Khalil Mack is on injured reserve after a gruesome elbow injury suffered in the first quarter against Las Vegas on Monday. He’s still got a sideline presence with the Chargers.
“He’s back on the sideline coaching the guys up, sitting next to guys on the bench looking at the iPad,” defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said, describing Mack shortly after he got hurt. “That is the ultimate team guy. He’ll continue to do that and he’s back at meetings. It’s great for our guys to see how important it is to him. He’ll do whatever he can to help out. Blessed to have a guy like that.”
Road cheering section
Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton knows it will be loud at SoFi Stadium – because of cheering Denver fans.
“It’s hilarious. There’s always a point in the game where you hear, ‘Let’s go Broncos,’” Sutton said. “I don’t want to start no beef or nothing but it’s always funny how another set of fans won’t really want to start that chant until they hear Broncos Country hitting the chant.”
It comes in handy for these divisional games.
“The Chargers are playing really good football right now,” Sutton said. “They are playing with a spark, and it’s fun to see and it’s fun to be a part of. We’re also playing with a spark, and we’re practicing with a spark and having the passion and desire. You can see it all over the field at practice and in the games.
“I know they are going to show up, but I also know that we’re also going to show up and it will be fun to be a part of.”
Harbaugh ties
Broncos coach Sean Payton has a friendly relationship with the Harbaugh family. He worked alongside Ravens coach John Harbaugh when both were up-and-coming coaches with the Philadelphia Eagles. Payton was the QB coach back then and John Harbaugh the special teams coordinator.
Payton’s respect carries over to Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh.
“Our league is better when Jim is in it,” Payton said. “I’ve said this before out of respect, I would rather him be in a different division, but he does a tremendous job with his team, as does John.
“Think about that. At one point there was a Super Bowl where the two of them were coaching against each other. We might go 200 more years before that happens again. That’s pretty remarkable.”
Browns’ $2.4B stadium gets green light
Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Transportation approved a permit on Thursday for the construction of a new stadium for the Cleveland Browns.
The proposed stadium would be built in suburban Brook Park, next to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The Browns are looking to begin construction next year and start playing in their new home in 2029, following the completion of their 30-year lease at their lakefront stadium in downtown Cleveland.
ODOT originally rejected the permit on Aug. 1, citing height concerns. Haslam Sports Group – the company founded by Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam, their daughter and son-in-law – had the opportunity to appeal, and both sides had been in talks for the past two months.
ODOT decided to waive the height limit, which is 150 feet above the airport’s ground elevation, after an independent third-party consultant determined that construction of the proposed $2.4-billion domed stadium would not change any flight paths. The building will have marking and lighting required by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“All along our goal has been to ensure that all concerns were heard and addressed, and a resolution could be found,” ODOT Director Pamela Boratyn said in a statement.
The stadium would be built on the former site of a Ford Motor Co. plant. It would sit 80 feet below ground and 221 feet above ground.
“We respect both the comprehensive work that the FAA did to determine that our stadium project poses no hazard to the surrounding area and ODOT’s diligent process to confirm these findings,” Haslam Sports Group President Dave Jenkins said. “Safety is of paramount importance to all of us and was at the forefront of our detailed and deliberate process with our FAA consultants, whom we engaged with well before our architects began designing the stadium.”
Jenkins added that the Browns plan to have more working sessions with airport officials about the stadium.
The Browns are paying $1.2 billion for construction and will receive $600 million from the state. The team is hoping to fill the remaining financing gap after discussions with Brook Park officials.
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