Bengals Defender on Ja’Marr Chase’s Week 1 Status: ‘Who Knows’

A common theme of this NFL offseason has been star wide receivers dealing with contract disputes with their respective teams. The Dallas Cowboys and receive CeeDee Lamb just resolved their dispute but there are still a few left to deal with.

Brandon Aiyuk of the San Francisco 49ers and Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals both are looking for new contracts. Chase has been reporting to camp but has hardly practiced while he deals with potential contract negotiations.

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Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said recently that he expects Chase to play in the season opener against the New England Patriots but just a day later, Chase skipped practice. Taylor then walked his comments back saying that he spoke a little soon on the wide receiver’s status for the opener.

Read more: Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase’s Week 1 Status Now in Jeopardy

This has now put the status of Chase playing against the Patriots in question and nobody knows if he will be suiting up for Cincinnati. Chase was at practice on Thursday but didn’t participate in any drills once again.

After the fact, Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton was asked if there was a world where he could imagine that didn’t have Chase playing in Week 1.

“Nah, not at all. Like I said, even if he isn’t, we’re prepared for it,” Hilton said. “Like I said, the reps that guys have been getting behind him, Tee, Charlie, Yoshi, it’s going to pay off in the long run. So we kind of expect him to be there in Week 1 but like I said, who knows.”

Not having Chase against New England could be detrimental to how the Bengals season can start. While the team does have another elite wideout in Tee Higgins, having both players on the field helps to elevate the Cincinnati offense to another level.

This was the first training camp that the Bengals have had star quarterback Joe Burrow fully participating and it has made a big difference. So this dilemma with Chase hasn’t helped things as the season’s start inches closer.

Chase believes he is worthy of a massive contract extension, but so far, the Bengals haven’t been willing to ease up on their terms. In July, Bengals owner Mike Brown said that it wasn’t a good time to negotiate a new deal, sparking some concerns.

“It’s not so likely that this is the good time to negotiate,” Brown said in July, via Ben Baby of ESPN. “The offseason is a better time for that and we’re going to try to keep focused on the football part. I’m not going to rule anything out, but I will tell you that the die has probably been cast.”

It remains to be seen if Chase and the Bengals will agree to a new deal before the season starts but not doing so could cause Chase to sit out. Losing Chase, who has been one of the more productive wide receivers in the NFL since being drafted, would be a massive blow to the Bengals’ overall chances on a week-to-week basis.

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