Overview
- Two games into the 2026 season, Jared Verse has not recorded a sack for the Cleveland Browns, and the team as a unit has three sacks so far.
- Verse was the centerpiece of the offseason trade that sent Myles Garrett to the Rams, which has placed extra public scrutiny on his early results.
- Verse told reporters this week that he is not focused on sack totals and that he values pressures, run defense and locker-room leadership over a single stat.
- Defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg defended Verse on Thursday, saying the player is working hard, making plays that disrupt quarterbacks and that sack totals should improve as he adapts.
- Verse’s history shows heavy pressure production — he had 80 QB pressures in 2025 — so the near-term storyline is whether the Browns’ scheme and Week 3 home opener will turn pressures into sacks and calm the trade-driven scrutiny.