Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase arrived nearly 15 minutes late for practice on Wednesday wearing street clothes and stirring doubt over his willingness to play in the Week 1 opener in 10 days.
Chase observed practice one day after head coach Zac Taylor provided a confident “yes” to a question about whether Chase would suit up when Cincinnati welcomes the New England Patriots to begin the regular season on Sept. 8.
“It’s been good just to have our full complement of weapons out there,” Taylor said on Tuesday’s Zoom call with media. “I think it gives you the visual of what it’s going to look and feel like for us. It’s been good to get him back in the mix the last couple of days. He’s looked great. Same Ja’Marr I’m used to. The plan will be to continue to practice with him.”
But Chase apparently shifted gears overnight, a potential signal of challenges in contract talks with the team. Owner Mike Brown said in training camp that signing Chase would be a priority, but he remained committed at that time to a franchise-held position not to negotiate during the season. Unless Brown and the Bengals — or Chase — are ready to budge, the clock is ticking.
“I think everyday is a new day,” Taylor said Wednesday. “We’ll keep working through it. I’m not going to make predictions on what tomorrow brings. At the end of the day, Ja’Marr is a great leader that means a lot to this team.”
Taylor said the situation is not a distraction, but a “one-off situation.”
“I think I probably put my foot in my mouth speaking too quickly. Again, this is a day-to-day situation,” Taylor said.
Taylor didn’t want to comment on whether the Bengals were concerned about Chase playing in the regular-season opener.
He said Chase would still be able to play even if he doesn’t practice the rest of this week.
“We’ve got really good players. What’s good about us is we have really good depth at the skill-position spot on offense,” Taylor said. “A lot of guys working in practice to get those reps. Of course we’d love for him to be practicing and getting those reps. But you’ve got to find the positives in the situation.”
Chase, 24, caught 100 passes for 1,216 yards and seven touchdowns last season and enters his fourth season with 268 receptions and 29 touchdowns. He’s scheduled to play on the fifth-year option on his contract with teammate Tee Higgins playing out the franchise tender on his deal after the Bengals allowed his contract to expire, then tagged him in March.
Waiting might come at a steep cost for Cincinnati. The price of business with wide receivers skyrocketed in the offseason.
His former LSU teammate Justin Jefferson reset the market with a four-year, $140 million contract ($35 million per season) that eclipsed the $32 million per year Eagles wideout A.J. Brown receives. Amon-Ra St. Brown signed a four-year deal worth $30.002 million per year with the Lions, and the Cowboys finally paid CeeDee Lamb’s asking price — four years, $136 million with $100 million guaranteed — this week to bring his offseason holdout to a close.
–Field Level Media