Three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald preceded 2024 first-round pick and eventual Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse as the face of the Los Angeles Rams defense. The torch in the Rams’ pass-rushing unit is passed, and Verse sparked a playful back-and-forth with the franchise legend after his rookie season, challenging the now-retired Donald to a workout. Donald, 34, embraced the provocation and welcomed Verse to join him for an “old man workout.”
The friendly fire came between two immensely disruptive players who made, and continue to make, the Rams’ defensive front one of the most feared units in the NFL.
“He don’t want that,” Verse said on “The Adam Schefter Podcast.” “He’s not ready for that. That little 500 bench he had, he’s not ready for that. I be moving weight. I be moving weight. Whenever he ready for a workout, man — I be seeing his little Instagram posts with the bench and dumbbell bench. He can get at me whenever he ready.”
The duo combines for 115.5 career sacks. Donald accounted for 111 of them. His 2018 campaign remains one of the best by a pass rusher in league history as Donald ranked No. 8 on the single-season sacks leaderboard, and it was one of the numerous years that headlines a résumé that should earn him a spot in the Hall of Fame when first eligible in 2029.
“Somebody put the word out,” Donald said on social media. “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. Push a little weights, do a little cardio, 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.”
Verse is already off to a strong start in following up Donald’s stellar act. Like his predecessor, he won the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award and made the Pro Bowl in his first year with the Rams. The Florida State product accumulated 66 total tackles with 4.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles during his debut campaign.
“All I need is a date and time,” Verse said in response. “That’s all I need. You just give me a date and time, and I’m there. Matter of fact, while we’re at it, let’s make it a bet: I finish your old man workout, you come back here and do one of these young man workouts. I’ll show you how we get down. I’ll show you how we get down nowadays.”
The only thing left is for these two to make this showdown happen. And film it, of course.
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