All summer, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase has been the most popular player in uniform at Bengals training camp.
With quarterback Joe Burrow watching from a cart or on the sideline, Chase is the player who has the fans in the crowd on the edge of their seats. Chase is the player with 10-year-olds screaming for an autograph. Chase is the player who makes the crowd go wild when he hits on a big play.
At practice on Wednesday, Chase put on his best show during his two years of training camp with the Bengals. According to offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, Chase had one of his best practices as a Bengal.
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“Ja’Marr had a fantastic practice today; it was impressive,” Callahan said. “Today, he had a lot of big plays. He had a really nice practice with some featured targets. Then we missed the throw on one or two of them that would have been another big play.”
Chase has made a laundry list of highlight catches this summer, but he had his best two on Wednesday.
On one play, Bengals cornerback Eli Apple was playing perfect coverage to force Chase toward the sideline. Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen dropped a 10-yard throw over Apple’s arms, and Chase made a one-handed catch, pinning the ball between his fingertips and his wrist.
As the ball traveled through the air, Chase let himself stay in step with Apple. Then when he was ready to make the catch, Chase sped up and adjusted his route to create an inch of separation.
The crowd responded with a standing ovation. Chase smiled and flipped the football to a young fan in the first row. Bengals special teams coach Darrin Simmons looked at Apple and shrugged.
“He has had an unbelievable training camp,” Callahan said. “There has been no dropoff in his game. I’ve only seen him get better. It’s going to be really fun to see him in year two; he’s so much more comfortable playing in the NFL. It should be a lot of fun for us.”
Later in practice, Allen threw a deep ball to Chase down the right sideline. On the 30-plus yard throw, Chase had one-on-one coverage with No. 1 cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. As the ball fluttered in the air, Chase stopped, made a quick cut to adjust to the high-arching throw that was about to land out-of-bounds and kept his tiptoes in the field of play to make the catch.
Again, there was a huge ovation.
There were more first-down catches from Chase. Against zone coverage, Chase ran from the slot, drew the coverage of linebacker Germaine Pratt and used his speed to work around him to make the open catch. Chase also caught a shovel pass from out of the backfield as he racked up at least 100 yards.
When Bengals wide receiver Mike Thomas was asked if this was Chase’s best practice as a Bengal, Thomas said Chase hadn’t been satisfied with how he had practiced recently.
Last week, there was one play where Awuzie tipped up a slant route to Chase and picked off the pass, but that was the only notable play that didn’t go in Chase’s favor. During that stretch, Chase also caught a deep ball on a perfectly run fade route from the slot, and Chase has feasted in snaps out of the slot.
During that stretch, the Bengals hardly even ran any 11-on-11 team drills. One day was entirely spent working on situations where the Bengals were inside their own 5-yard line. And Chase was still regularly making first down catches.
The Bengals offense was back to full-speed work on Wednesday, and Chase was clearly the best player on the field.
“I know he had a few practices he didn’t like in the last few days,” Thomas said. “He made up for that today. He did what he does. I love being able to learn from him every day.”
More observations from Wednesday’s practice
– The Bengals are rotating players more at wide receiver than any other position. It’s a sign of what’s to come in the regular season when players enter the game in the place of Chase, Tee Higgins or Tyler Boyd.
Every player has a role. Stanley Morgan Jr. is the most physical blocker and an athletic route runner on the outside of the field. Trent Taylor is the most consistent option out of the slot. If he makes the team, Kwamie Lassiter II would offer versatility and impressive route running ability. Mike Thomas is the best overall player and has the most experience filling a variety of roles in the Bengals’ offense.
Thomas made his best play of camp on Wednesday. Against Cover 2 defense, he noticed cornerback Chidobe Awuzie was backing off the line of scrimmage. Then, Thomas saw the linebacker follow tight end Hayden Hurst on the play. Thomas adjusted his route toward the middle of the field and was open to catch a 20-yard touchdown.
“I’m trying to make as many plays as I can,” Thomas said. “I’m really looking forward to the preseason games to show what I can really do. I’m making sure I’m doing everything I had to do with my routes, my assignments, and of course special teams.”
– Left tackle Jonah Williams had his best practice of the summer. It started with an awful miss on a block against Hendrickson. Williams recovered and made the key block on three separate plays that turned into big gains for the offense. The highlight was a block where Williams absorbed Hendrickson’s pass rush move and forced Hendrickson to fall to the ground.
– The Bengals have a new tight end in Hurst, and he allows them to add a new element to their offense. Twice on Wednesday, the Bengals ran a play that isolated Hurst in one-on-one coverage as the only receiver on his side of the field. The play is designed for Hurst to make a back-shoulder catch and use his physicality to get open. While Allen didn’t connect, Hurst has the skill to make these plays.
– Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard was not at practice. He had a “vet day” on Monday, but no injury designation was given on Wednesday. Wyatt Hubert (undisclosed), Drew Sample (leg) and D’Ante Smith (back) remain out. Joseph Ossai and Cam Taylor-Britt also did not practice, but they were in uniform.
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