The Cincinnati Bengals might be getting one of their best offensive players back as they hit the toughest stretch of their schedule.
Following the Bengals’ Week 11 win over the Steelers, head coach Zac Taylor said the team will ease star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase back into things this week. Chase first injured his hip against the New Orleans Saints on Oct. 16 and spent the week following on the injury report as a limited participant in practice.
“We’ll start working him back this week to see where he is at. I don’t want to make any predictions on that.
Explaining the timeline of Ja’Marr Chase’s hip injury
It didn’t appear Chase’s hip injury was serious as he started and played in the first quarter of the Bengals’ game against the Falcons on Oct. 23. Then, in the second quarter before half, Chase re-injured his hip while running a route and went into the locker room with the trainers before the half concluded. Remarkably enough, Chase was able to come back into the game in the second half, albeit his production wasn’t the same.
Following the win over the Falcons, Chase underwent a medical examination on his hip and revealed the injury was serious enough he would miss an extended period of time. The details of Chase’s hip injury have yet to be confirmed by Chase or the team, but it was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that he has a fracture in his hip. The timeline for his return was initially four to six weeks.
Then the Bengals opted not to put Chase on injured reserve signaling they thought he could potentially come back sooner. If the Bengals were to have placed Chase on IR, he then would have had to miss a minimum of four games. Looking at the schedule, that meant he would miss Cincinnati’s games against: Cleveland, Carolina, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
The bye was a factor in the decision to not place him on injured reserve because the rule states a player on injured reserve must miss four games, the bye week coming after the Bengals’ win over Carolina gave Chase an additional week of recovery.And that’s where the Bengals sit with Chase currently. Taylor said the direction to Chase was to stay off his hip for four weeks and use his crutches to get around. He was successful in doing so.
Said Taylor: “Everything has gone according to plan so far now it’s just a matter of getting him out on the grass and seeing where he’s at and what’s his comfort level? What’s our comfort level? That will truly be a day-to- day process really starting today, tomorrow, Wednesday to figure out how he factors into Sunday.”
Why the Bengals are being cautious with Ja’Marr Chase in this situation
Chase is only 22 years old and in the middle of his second NFL season. The long-term damage that could be done to Chase and his hip is much greater than the positives that could come if he were to rush back and help get the Bengals a win or two.
He, with Burrow, is the future of Cincinnati’s franchise for the next decade. Chase’s game is predicated off his explosiveness – it’s what makes him one of the most dangerous players in the NFL. In order to return and have the same impact, Chase needs his lower body strength to be at 100 percent. Anything less would be a detriment to his long-term career with the Bengals.
And Taylor and the Bengals certainly understand that.
“We're never going to rush our guys into it,” Taylor said. “We want Ja'Marr to be a big part of this as the season wears on. We'll just take it day-to-day and just have constant communication with him and Matt Summers and our whole medical staff and figure out what the process is. Everything has been positive up to this point as we hoped it would and now we just got to take it through this week."
To put into context how valuable Chase is to Burrow and the Bengals’ offense look no further than his performance in his rookie season. Chase was named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year after amassing 81 catches for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns. He averaged 18 yards per catch and broke Chad Johnson’s franchise record for most receiving yards in a season in his first year in the league.
Burrow and Chase already have won a national championship and an AFC championship together. In order for Burrow and Cincinnati’s offense to reach its full potential, they need Chase to be healthy first and foremost.
In seven games this season, Chase has caught 47 passes for 605 yards and six touchdowns.
Will Ja’Marr Chase play against the Titans?
That decision is to be determined.
The plan is for the Bengals to get Chase on the practice fields and let him see how he feels before declaring if he can play or not. He could come back to practice and feel completely fine or he could be in pain and need more time.
Time will tell. The first injury report of the week comes out on Wednesday.
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