PHILADELPHIA — Late in the first quarter, Saquon Barkley took a handoff from the shotgun and burst through the right side of the line and into the open field. No Los Angeles Rams defender had a chance to catch him, but outside linebacker Jared Verse continued to give chase. Barkley looked back at him a few times and even slowed down, as if to taunt him — which Barkley never does — before cruising into the end zone. That’s because there was some extra mustard on Sunday’s divisional playoff game, which the Eagles held on to win 28-22. Verse, from Bloomsburg, Pa., had made his feelings known about Birds fans last week. “I hate Eagles fans,” he said, annoyed at being heckled in Los Angeles on Nov. 24. “They’re so annoying. I hate Eagles fans. … Oh, I hate Eagles fans. … When I see that green and white, I hate it. I actually get upset. Like I actually genuinely get hot.” Verse had 76 QB pressures and 4.5 sacks this season, making him a favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year (even if Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell has a case of his own). When asked about Verse’s comments leading up to the game, Barkley suggested they weren’t a good idea. “Probably not the smartest thing to say when you’re coming to Philadelphia,” Barkley said. “I’ve been on the other side (as a member of the New York Giants) and even if I felt some type of way, I probably wouldn’t give them any extra fuel. I’m pretty sure Philly fans have seen that comment. It was already going to be loud and rocking so it’s just only going to add to it.” Did Barkley say anything to Verse on that touchdown run? “I don’t think I said anything,” Barkley said. “I got in trouble for talking a little crap to the refs. I got called to the principal’s office. But not on that play.” Still, Verse made his presence known on Sunday, at one point mixing it up with fans before the game. On a third-and-8 midway through the second quarter, when the Eagles had the ball at the Rams’ 31, Verse boomeranged Jalen Hurts to the ground on a sack that knocked the Birds out of field goal range. At the end of the half, Verse sacked Hurts again after nearly recovering a fumble on the previous play. Following both sacks, the L.A. rookie stood up and gave the crowd at the Linc two thumbs down. Verse also pressured Hurts on the Eagles’ first possession of the third quarter to force a three-and-out, and continued to pressure him the rest of the night. He finished with four tackles, including three for a loss, and two QB hits to go along with the pair of sacks. “He’s a dangerous running back, arguably the best in the league right now,” Verse said of Barkley. “He’s been dominating, he’s dangerous, so you’ve got to kind of stop him before you even do anything else.” • • • Speaking of Hurts, this was “Bad Jalen” (passing-wise) as opposed to the “Good Jalen” the Eagles saw against the Pittsburgh Steelers last month, when he threw for 290 yards among seven receivers. Sunday was the Jalen that holds the ball too long. Hurts took seven sacks against Los Angeles, including a safety. The good news was, he didn’t throw any picks or fumble the ball away. “We just didn’t connect,” said Hurts, who suffered some sort of knee injury in the win. “Just didn’t connect this time around. It’s been a minute in general since we’ve done that as a whole. So, holistically as an offense, we just want to go out there and take advantage of all the opportunities we have at hand and continue to learn from them.” • • • Mitchell, the aforementioned Eagles rookie corner who exited with a shoulder injury early in the game and didn’t return, expects to play next week, according to multiple reports. The first-round pick out of Toledo, often matched up against the opponent’s top receiver, had an interception in the wild-card round against Green Bay after a stellar regular season. “I told him to just keep his head up,” said Isaiah Rodgers, who replaced him and played well. “At the end of the day, I had to go out there and do what I could do to at least fill in a little bit for him. He’s a hell of a player and a hell of an addition to the team. I just wanted to go out there an make the best plays I can.” Rodgers had five tackles (four solo), five passes defensed and a fumble recovery. Inside linebacker Oren Burks had six tackles (four solo), including two for loss, a pass defensed and a QB hit in place of Nakobe Dean, who is out for the season. “We missed Nakobe like crazy,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I love Nakobe Dean. I’ve made that very clear how I feel about him. Missed him. But Oren, I had no doubt he was going to step in and play a good game. He is around great players on defense. … Oren went out and played a good game and made some big tackles.” Rookie Jeremiah Trotter Jr., also helping out at inside backer, had a pair of tackles for loss. • • • NOTES >> The Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship for the eighth time under Jeffrey Lurie’s ownership. … Sirianni is 4-3 in the postseason as head coach, and his four straight home playoff wins is the longest streak in franchise history. … Kicker Jake Elliott missed two PATs but was 3-for-3 on field goals (44, 23 and 37 yards).