Unable to play old version offline

Hi! I am trying to launch the game in an older version as I am using career mode mods that are not available for the latest updates. I've been on a 2-month hiatus and have been able to play offline up until then. Now the game forces me to update if I want to play.

If I turn Steam offline before launching, EA Play will tell me I need my steam to be online and then proceed to log me out. If I turn both Steam and EA Play offline, I just get a message that says I need to be online to launch the game. If I straight up pull the internet cable out, I get the same message (how come I'm not able to play a game I own if I happen to have no internet???).

If I try to launch the game with Steam online, the game just forces an update and I've already set it to only update on game launch (yet it sometimes tries to update even when I just boot up Steam). Any fix for this please? I last updated the game in May, not sure how to check the exact version.