Eagles faithful got the last laugh in their feud with Rams rookie edge rusher Jared Verse, who called out an entire fanbase before Los Angeles’ 28-22 loss in their Divisional Round game on Sunday.
Last week, Verse became an enemy in Philadelphia when he publicly announced he hated Eagles fans — and they were prepared for his arrival at Lincoln Financial Field.
“After the game, I was walking into the locker room, and they’re throwing snowballs,” the 24-year-old Verse said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “They bleed green and white.
“I like that they stand on it. They don’t shy away from it. My phone was blowing up the last two, three days. All I was seeing was, ‘Yeah, we embrace it. We love that.’ I was like, ‘OK.’ But I like that they stand on it.”
Verse was met with boos by the home team when he did a lap around the perimeter of the field before the game, which is part of his pre-game routine.
“I had my ski mask on, my hat on, and my hoodie on so I don’t think they really knew who it was,” said Verse, who is in contention for Defensive Rookie of the Year. “But the second I took my ski mask off, all I heard was ‘Booo.’ I took my AirPods out. ‘Boooo. You [stink].’ I was like, ‘Yeah. That’s what I expected.’ I can’t be mad about it.”
Verse was seen exchanging words with Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter before the game, but it’s unclear what was said.
In the first quarter, the scoreboard featured Verse’s trash talk about Eagles fans before it showed him smiling raising his arms in the air while sitting on the Rams bench.
“I like hostile environments,” Verse said. “It doesn’t mean anything to me. It doesn’t faze me. It hypes me up more. It’s not like I’m going to get shy or get nervous. No. That hypes me up more.”
Verse put a target on his back when he took jabs at Eagles fans ahead of the Divisional Round clash.
“When I see that green and white I hate it,” Verse told The Los Angeles Times last Thursday. “I actually get upset. Like I actually genuinely get H๏τ.”
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley also trolled Verse over his comments.
“Probably not the smartest thing to say when you’re coming to Philadelphia,” Barkley said before the game.
Verse, who grew up in Berwick, Pennsylvania, and attended Central Columbia High School in Bloomsburg, had two sacks in the loss.
“I don’t ever want to feel like this again,” Verse said. “I don’t want my teammates to feel like this again. I (don’t) want to look in their eyes and see anything but pure bliss and pure happiness. And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Verse said Philadelphia fans earned his respect.
“But I can’t speak for all of them,” he said. “I hope I did. It was a good game, no matter what. And we’re going to see each other a lot in the next couple years.”
The Eagles will host the Commanders in the NFC Championship game next Sunday in Philadelphia.