Rams' Verse Gets Rematch at Mekhi Becton in Joint Practice

Verse won’t have to wait long for another meeting with Becton. The 6-7, 363-pound guard departed the world champion Eagles and signed with the Chargers as an unrestricted free agent. Becton and the Chargers will see Verse and the Rams in at least one joint practice on Aug. 13 in El Segundo, Calif., three days before the teams meet at SoFi Stadium for a preseason contest on Aug. 16.

Initially selected by the Jets as the 11th overall choice in the 2020 draft, Becton had New York decline the fifth-year option on his rookie contract and left in free agency to join the Eagles a year ago. This past March, he signed a two-year, $20-million deal with the Chargers. He didn’t get that deal based on his game film of the Eagles’ 28-22 win over Verse and the Rams.

At the end of the first half, Verse beat left tackle Jordan Mailata to get his second sack. In the third quarter, he also dropped Saquon Barkley for a 1-yard loss. Now, Verse enters his sophomore NFL season planning to use that game as a catapult and improve on what he thought was a sub-par campaign – at least in the sacks department.

Earlier in the offseason, Verse told Adam Schefter – just before the youngster challenged Aaron Donald to a workout competition -- that his sacks number would increase significantly. But he was wise enough to leave out a specific number.

“That's all I know,” he said, “because I'm not giving them up like I was last year. I'm going to take that little extra step, keep my feet underneath me and I'm taking everything I get this year. I know that.”

And with Young threatening on the other side, along with Verse’s Florida State teammate Braden Fiske on the line, the Rams are expected to be a problem for the league this year.

And if offenses can find a way to neutralize those three on the outside, Kobie Turner and free agent Poona Ford – who’ll see his former Chargers teammates on Aug. 13 – are a formidable duo on the interior. The Rams also drafted edge rusher Josaiah Stewart in the third round, out of Michigan.

Stewart, who’ll see his former college coach Jim Harbaugh when the Rams practice against the Chargers, won a 2023 national championship with the Wolverines.

In addition to that joint practice with the Chargers, the Rams will make a short trip to Oxnard, Calif., and practice jointly with the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 5. The Rams open training camp when rookies and veterans report to Loyola Marymount University on July 22.

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