INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead hadn't allowed a sack all season coming into their Monday Night Football matchup with the Rams, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). Outside linebacker Jared Verse tallied a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery against Armstead… all in one play.

Verse first pushed Armstead back on a bull rush before looping inside to rip past the guard and then strip-sacked Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. As 300-pound bodies started diving on the ball, Verse was the one who came up with it, giving Los Angeles possession in Dolphins territory midway through the second quarter.

That marked his third-straight game with a sack. The rookie is starting to look like a vet.

"We were in an overload front, we were running a little twist game," said Kobie Turner. "He was able to take the inside… the guard actually set out to him, a lot of the time we want to go for the four-for-three slide and we want the guard to slam down to where I'm at so Jared can take the inside and I can just wrap around, but the guard set out a little bit.

"I stuttered, gave a little bit of eyes to the guard, looked like he kind of looked by way a little bit, and then Jared's just a bully. Whenever he's able to go and get his power rush activated, he's awesome."

Verse finished the game with four tackles, a sack, a fumble forced and recovered, and two tackles for loss. That brought his season totals to 4.5 sacks (which leads all rookies) and 11 tackles for loss, tying Von Miller and Micah Parsons for second-most through a player's first nine career games since tackles for loss became an official stat in 1999. Despite the 23-15 loss, Verse finds himself in elite company halfway through his rookie season, but he's not satisfied with the performance.

On the drive prior to that strip-sack, Verse blew up a De'Von Achane rush attempt for a four-yard loss on the first play. On the very next snap, Tagovailoa tried to force a pass over the middle of the field and got intercepted by Christian Rozeboom. If Verse didn't blow up the first play, Tagovailoa likely wouldn't have been that aggressive on second down.

Verse has found various ways to influence the game already as a rookie, and that was on full display Monday night. Still, he thought his performance left a lot to be desired.

"I'll never be satisfied with the way I play," Verse said postgame. "I think there were definitely a couple plays here and there that I could have made if I did a little bit more."

Verse said he was particularly dwelling on a missed sack that led to a third-and-long conversion by Raheem Mostert, who received the pass from Tagovailoa off schedule once he escaped from a diving Verse. Turner said he talked to Verse a couple times on the sideline, as he was upset about not making certain plays.

Turner said everyone in the defensive line unit is hard on themselves – they want to be their ideal selves each other. But, as a captain, he tries to hold everyone accountable, but Verse "knows what he does wrong" a lot of the time, and it's just about helping him have the presence of mind to move on, learn from it and do the job better next time.

By the game's end, Verse had accumulated five pressures and four hurries, according to PFF. Verse kept Tagovailoa on the run all night long and was just barely beaten to the quarterback by Turner on his third-quarter sack.

Verse burst onto the scene in Week 1, but has still managed to improve steadily throughout his rookie season, and his teammates have noticed.

"The guy is going to be a champion," said outside linebacker Michael Hoecht. "You just watch him, certain guys pop on tape, (Verse) is one of them."