Latest news with #AaronDonald
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Kobie Turner has a message for NFL offenses: Rams are ‘dangerous' on defense
A few years ago, the Rams defensive line was built around a sure-fire Hall of Fame player and a supporting cast. This season, with Aaron Donald entering his second year of retirement, the Rams defensive front is stacked with ascending stars and proven players. 'We have a lot of guys who can really go and win,' nose tackle Kobie Turner said Monday. 'And at any given moment, you got to be ready for any one of us to strike — and that's dangerous.' The defensive line most controlled Monday's practice, the Rams' first in pads. Quarterback Matthew Stafford remains sidelined because of a back issue, and receiver Devonte Adams and tight end Tyler Higbee only observed. Turner, Braden Fiske, new addition Poona Ford and edge rushers Jared Verse and Byron Young were among the players that made it tough on a run-heavy offense led by Jimmy Garoppolo. 'These guys are the real deal,' coach Sean McVay said.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sean McVay preaches "controlled aggression" to Jared Verse
Rams linebacker Jared Verse has learned how to work out like former Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. In addition to being a great player, Verse has something else in common with the future Hall of Famer. Verse has an edge. And that edge sometimes needs to be controlled in practice. Coach Sean McVay needed to talk to Verse after a practice-field scuffle. McVay was later asked what he said. 'Just what we talked about, controlled aggression," McVay told reporters. "I like the way that he responded, one of the things that makes Jared great is that edge that he plays with. I can remember it's the same things that Aaron and I used to talk about when he was playing. You're always right on that line of using the aggressiveness, that edge. He likes to talk shit and so you don't want to take that away from him, but you want to make sure that you're able to reset from one snap to the next. We always talk about, 'Let's respond, let's not react.' I like the way that he finished practice.' The best news is that Verse has yet to attack someone with a helmet. The key word may be "yet." Donald's incident happened in joint practices with the Bengals. This year, the Rams will have joint practices with the Cowboys and the Chargers.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Call the police.' Jared Verse left inspired by his Aaron Donald workout trauma
Jared Verse thought he was ready for the challenge. A workout with future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald in Donald's home gym? No big deal. Or so believed Verse, the reigning NFL defensive rookie of the year. 'That workout was psychotic,' Verse said this week. The meeting of the muscles happened in June after Verse stoked Donald's competitive fire during Verse's appearance on the 'Adam Schefter Podcast.' Verse unabashedly if not kiddingly sounded as if he were challenging Donald to a workout duel. 'He don't want that,' Verse said when asked if he could work out with Donald during the offseason. 'He's not ready for that.' Verse added a few other choice comments, causing Donald to playfully respond in a video posted to social media. 'Somebody put the word out,' Donald said. 'I'm looking for you, Verse. I'm looking for you. Come to the house. I just want to talk. I just want to talk, that's it. 'Nothing much, big dog. That's it. Just a little conversation. Put in a little weights. Do a little cardio. You know, the old-man retirement workout. Let's put you through it. See what you can do. I just want to talk. Come on, I just want to talk.' A few days later, the two got together for a workout that Verse will never forget. Donald put Verse through a punishing series of full-body circuit training. 'His wife came in laughing at me — I told her to call the police,' Verse said, adding, 'I tried to lie and say my mom was at my house and I had to go let her in. He told me to give my keys to his management or assistant and that they would go let my mom in. So I wasn't leaving. 'Finished the workout. I'm dead tired, I'm exhausted. I had a plan to go jump in the sauna afterwards, didn't happen. I had plans to watch film, didn't happen. Went home and I didn't work out for another day and a half because I couldn't move my body.' Verse, however, valued the lessons learned. Donald stressed to Verse throughout the exhausting workout that he think about the fourth quarter of games, and the need to be strong when others fall off. 'It was insane to see that's the level it takes to be in the discussions of best defensive player ever or best player ever,' Verse said. 'So that's the level I have to reach on a consecutive basis. That's what I'm striving for now.' Verse is part of an ascending Rams defensive front that includes edge rusher Byron Young and tackles Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske. The Rams added depth by signing free-agent tackle Poona Ford and selecting Michigan edge rusher Josaiah Stewart in the third round of the draft. The confidence in the pass rush led the Rams to stand pat and not add any players to the secondary. A strong pass rush, they reason, will make up for perceived deficiencies on the back end. Verse, 24, is the star of the front. The confident and vocal 2024 first-round pick exceeded expectations last season, recording 4 ½ sacks and 18 quarterback hits while blossoming into one of the league's most dynamic defensive players. Has coach Sean McVay noticed anything different about the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Verse as he prepares for his second season. 'Other than him still talking and you can't hear him shut up ever?' McVay said, laughing, 'I love him. I mean, he is never shutting up, but he's got a relentless energy. 'I think he's understanding how to be able to use that to his advantage.' At the behest of former Florida State and NFL defensive lineman Corey Simon, Verse said he reviewed every play from his rookie season. He focused on the bad plays, as well as the good ones, to find ways to improve. His performance in a 44-42 defeat by the Buffalo Bills stood out. 'They definitely found my weakness in that game,' he said, 'and I definitely made sure that's not a problem anymore.' Verse reported for training camp with a slightly different approach than last year, when he experienced what he described as a rookie mindset. Read more: The ultimate Matthew Stafford backup? Why the Rams love Jimmy Garoppolo 'I was mentally like, 'Oh, I've got to pound it, I've got to pound it. I've got to pound it,'' Verse said. 'This is a grind. It's a long 17-game season. We're trying to go a lot longer than 17 games, so I can't push myself too much harder. 'I was getting after it [this week], but I still was able to take a little step back, realize, 'hey, not every day needs to be the grand finale.'' Defensive coordinator Chris Shula said that with the departure of veteran Michael Hoecht, Verse has stepped up as a leader of the edge rushers. 'He's a guy that really likes to be coached hard,' Shula said. 'And when your best players like to be coached hard, I think that sets the culture for the whole defense.' Verse has made no secret of his goal to become not only one of the NFL's top defensive players, but like Donald, one of the best of all time. For the time being, however, Donald can continue to go through post-retirement workouts on his own. 'He needs to stay away from me,' Verse joked, 'and if the security sees him on the property, they need to take care of him.' Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rams LB Jared Verse provides hilarious account of the torture chamber that is an Aaron Donald workout session
Aaron Donald has been retired for more than a year now but he's still torturing NFL players. They just happen to be the ones he likes now. We heard last month about Los Angeles Rams linebacker Jared Verse accepting Donald's challenge to go through an "old man workout" at his home. After hanging up his cleats last offseason, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year appears to remain very much in game shape and publicly offered to show the 24-year-old Verse his regimen. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] We got some fun social media video from the workout in which Donald appeared to be enjoying himself, while Verse appeared ready to admit he had made a huge mistake. As it turns out, Verse was having an even worse time than the video showed. Speaking with reporters on Thursday at training camp, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year provided an account of what exactly goes into an Aaron Donald workout: "We do four workouts, it's all cardio. VersaClimber, bike, lunges and core. Four rounds each. You do that, you're already tired. Then you do four sets of core, two different workouts so it's like eight different workouts, four sets each. We do all that and he's like 'Are you ready for the real workout?' "I'm like 'Bro, I've been here for 45 minutes, what are you talking about?' We go to the weight room, it's all arms. That's why he's big as hell. It's like eight different circuits, four sets each, I'm there for an hour and a half." Things got pretty dire for Verse, whose potential escape plans didn't work out. The experience left him unable to move his body and joking (we think) about staying far away from the future Hall of Famer: "His wife came in laughing at me, I told her to call the police. I'm not even joking, I'm dead serious. I told her to call the police. She wouldn't do it. I tried to lie and say my mom was at my house and I had to go let her in. He told me to give my keys to his manager or assistant or something and they would go let my mom in. So I wasn't leaving. "Finished the workout. I'm dead tired, I'm exhausted. I had a plan to go jump in the sauna afterwards, didn't happen. Had plans to watch film, didn't happen. Went home and I didn't work out for another day and a half because I couldn't move my body ... He needs to stay away from me and if security sees him on the property they need to take care of him.' Speaking more seriously, Verse acknowledged the intensity of the workouts taught him a lesson he has started applying to his own routine: "No doubt about it, that workout was psychotic. I'm never doing that again. He did change my workout routine, though ... It was definitely the mindset that you got to keep going. "The one thing he kept saying throughout the whole workout, and he doesn't really show too much in the video, 'Think of the fourth quarter.' Everyone's good the first and the second, third, but what about the fourth? That's where you make your money." Verse was the 19th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft and was a standout as a rookie, posting 66 combined tackles, 18 QB hits, 11 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks for a Rams defense that needed all the help it could get after losing Donald to retirement. That effort earned Verse both the Defensive Rookie of the Year award, which Donald won in 2014, and his first career Pro Bowl honors. Donald, meanwhile, finished up a career in 2023 that saw him make the Pro Bowl in all 10 seasons of his career, first-team All-Pro honors in eight of them, three Defensive Player of the Year awards and a Super Bowl ring.
Fox News
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Which 10 Players Have The Best Odds to Win 2025 Defensive Player of the Year?
Entering the 2025 NFL season, the race for Defensive Player of the Year appears to be wide open. Following Aaron Donald's retirement in 2024, there aren't any active players who've won Defensive Player of the Year honors on multiple occasions. Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain is the most recent winner, doing so in a relatively close vote, as he only earned 25 of the 50 first-place votes. However, he isn't one of the 10 betting favorites to win the award this year. Here are the 10 players with the best odds to win 2025 DPOY, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Hendrickson's contract situation remains unsettled, painting a cloud of uncertainty over where and when he'll play this season. What is certain? His elite pass-rushing skills. He has recorded 17.5 sacks in each of the past two seasons, leading the league in sacks in 2024. A four-time Pro Bowler, the 30-year-old is consistently playing at a high level. Carter had a breakout campaign in 2024 and was one of the main reasons why the Eagles hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, but could he have an even better season in 2025? A top-10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Carter had 42 total tackles and 4.5 sacks in 2024. He also had 53 total pressures, the ninth-best mark among all defensive linemen, per Pro Football Focus, so it's reasonable to think that Defensive Player of the Year contention is in Carter's future. The 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, Bosa has remained one of the best pass rushers in football. He has recorded 19.5 sacks over the past two years, with his play last season being one of the few bright spots for the Niners. If San Francisco gets back into title contention in 2025, Bosa would likely play a large role in making that happen. Crosby began the wave of edge rushers getting paid this offseason, signing a then-record three-year, $106.5 million extension in March. He has since been usurped by a few of his peers, but that doesn't diminish just how good of a player Crosby is. In fact, he's one of the few edge rushers widely considered elite at both rushing the passer and stopping the run. He was ninth in pass-rush win rate (20%) and second in run-stop win rate (37%) among all edge rushers in 2024, to go along with 7.5 sacks in just 12 games. He recorded a career-high 14.5 sacks in 2023. Could Verse become the first player to win Defensive Player of the Year after winning Defensive Rookie of the Year since Luke Kuechly in 2013? Verse ran away with Defensive Rookie of the Year last season, recording 66 total tackles along with 4.5 sacks and 77 pressures. His play helped the Rams win the NFC West for the first time in three years. Anderson winning Defensive Player of the Year in Year 3 would seem to be a part of his natural ascension in the NFL. Anderson recorded 11.0 sacks last season after winning Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023, adding 37 total tackles. Watt became the latest player to earn the title of "highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history," claming that title when he agreed to a three-year, $123 million deal on July 17. His play certainly indicates that he's deserving, recording at least 11.0 sacks in six of the past seven seasons. He tied the record for the most sacks in a season in 2021, posting 22.5 in 15 games to win Defensive Player of the Year. He had 11.5 sacks in 2024 but battled injuries down the stretch. Prior to Watt's extension, Garrett had the honor of being the highest-paid non-QB in history. Like Watt, Garrett has also been one of the league's best pass rushers in recent years and has a DPOY award under his belt already. The four-time All-Pro has recorded at least 12.0 sacks in each season since 2020, including a 14-sack season that helped him win DPOY in 2023. He had a 14-sack season again in 2024, recording the most pressures (83) as well. Parsons might steal the highest-paid non-QB title from Watt soon. He has been seeking an extension from the Cowboys this offseason, and while he hasn't gotten one yet, it appears that Parsons will be on the field when Dallas opens training camp. If Parsons is ready to go when the season opens, he'll almost certainly make a strong case to win Defensive Player of the Year. He has recorded at least 12.0 sacks in the first four seasons of his career, including last season, when he only played 11 games. He has also been in the top five in pressures in each of the last three seasons, leading the league once, per PFF. Hutchinson is returning from a gruesome leg injury that ended his 2024 season after five games, so asking him to win Defensive Player of the Year might be a tall ask. However, he looked like he was going to be in contention for the award prior to fracturing his leg last year. He had 7.5 sacks in five games, giving him 28.5 sacks in 39 career games. Check out all of our Daily Rankers. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
