"You Can't Run Your Mouth": Jared Verse Faces Blunt Criticism From Shannon After Cleveland Browns Fallout

Shannon Sharpe has a blunt message for Jared Verse after the star expressed frustration© Image via: X/@NFL

Jared Verse talks big. That is no secret in Cleveland. But last Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Cleveland Browns edge rusher got slammed to the turf on an extra-point try, and nobody in a brown jersey rushed over. Days later, he is still stewing about it. Is this a story about loyalty, or about a pass rusher who has not yet found his rhythm? The answer sits somewhere in the middle, and it says plenty about how the Browns, now 5-3, handle pressure heading into a Week 9 road trip to face the New Orleans Saints.

Why Jared Verse Says His Cleveland Browns Teammates Let Him Down

Pittsburgh Steelers guard Mason McCormick swept Verse's legs and drove him into the ground in the first quarter. McCormick drew a penalty. Verse wanted more from his own sideline.

"The lack of reaction by those around me upset me a lot," Verse admitted. "A similar play happened to Derek Barnett, I think, on the next field goal, and I lost it because it was my brothers and my teammates. And when you do something like that to him, it upsets me very deeply," he said.

The film tells a calmer story. Most Browns had their backs to the play or jogged toward the sideline, sure it was over. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger said he never saw it live. "Obviously it's something if you see it, you go to his defense. It's something that you don't want to see in the game," Schwesinger said.

#Browns DE Jared Verse says he was upset his teammates didn't stand up for him after #Steelers G Mason McCormick threw him to the turf—and he had that conversation with them. “That honestly could have put me in a position to not be able to finish the season, put me in a position to change my life in a very bad aspect.”

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 5, 2026

Analyst Shannon Sharpe took a harder line on his podcast. "In the NFL, if you're gonna talk like a big dawg, you'd better play like a big dawg. You can't run your mouth all week and then get handled like that without your own team having your back," Sharpe concluded.

What Jared Verse Must Fix Before The Cleveland Browns Face The New Orleans Saints

Here is the bigger issue. Verse arrived from the Los Angeles Rams in the Myles Garrett trade, and he still has no sack in a Browns uniform. He has logged one pressure in each of his last two games. That is a steep drop for a player who piled up 143 pressures across 2024 and 2025.

Verse blames the situations, not himself, and he will not tone down his pregame style. "I don't think it's any secret that I like to talk. I like to attack things. I like to be verbal in the way I play and the way I talk and the way I move around and everything," he said.

Words can fire up a locker room, but only when production follows. The numbers add a twist. Nine of his 12 career sacks came on first or second down, so waiting for third-and-long may not help.

Cleveland's defense is still solid. It ranks 13th in pressure rate and sits tied for ninth in sacks. If Verse brings his teammates into the plan and finally shows up in the backfield, the locker room question fades fast. If not, the noise will only grow.