CINCINNATI — For the second consecutive day, Ja’Marr Chase stood on the side of practice in a baseball hat watching Joe Burrow and his Bengals teammates begin the new season.
The team spoke openly this week about interest in signing Chase to an extension with Mike Brown even calling him their second-best player and stating they would “bend over backwards” to make it happen.
Chase didn’t participate in the offseason program, only showing up for mandatory minicamp and playing a role similar to the one he has through two days of training camp.
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1 takeaway, 1 play, 1 thing we heard them say
Quick recap of the day in Chase, Burrow, Tee, plus a few interceptions to begin camp.
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Coach Zac Taylor confirmed Chase is fully healthy. So, is this about his contract?
“It’s a plan that Ja’Marr and I have,” Taylor said.
Will Chase practice on Friday?
“Well see,” Taylor said.
Chase offered no comment.
The Bengals have an off day on Saturday and a night practice on Sunday. If Chase hasn’t hit the field in some capacity by the time Monday comes, it’s fair to wonder what exactly this plan is and how long it will go on.
Not that any of it will matter.
If this is a power play, any absence won’t change the status of the Bengals’ brass or affect the negotiations one iota. There are decades of evidence of failed leverage attempts covering these grounds.
If there is one player whose chemistry at the position only needs about three reps, it’s Burrow and Chase, maybe the most connected quarterback-receiver combo in the league dating back to LSU.
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Taylor expected a few veterans to be eased into practice, specifically Tee Higgins, who was limited Thursday after his Wednesday return, and Trey Hendrickson taking the day off Thursday after participating Wednesday. Burrow is not expected to throw Friday to give him a break before Saturday’s off day.
Those are about injuries. That’s not the case with Chase, who is fully healthy, according to Taylor.
Players with contract situations make these decisions all the time. They are happening across the league right now. Whether Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk in San Francisco, Haason Reddick with the Jets, Jordan Love in Green Bay or CeeDee Lamb in Dallas.
Chase is under contract this year and has his fifth-year option for 2025 exercised. Before this year as teams tried to pay 2021 draft class receivers before Justin Jefferson inked his market-altering contract, there was little to no precedent of first-round receivers getting deals before their fourth season.
In Cincinnati, famously, A.J. Green signed his first extension right before getting on the flight to play the opener in Oakland to begin his fifth season. Outside of Burrow, the Bengals have never extended a first-round pick before their fourth season.
There’s zero reason to believe Chase would opt to not play this season or won’t get paid before the start of the 2025 season. It’s hard to figure out which sounds like the crazier scenario. The Bengals will eventually pay Chase to play with Burrow for the majority of his prime. Maybe they hash something out in the next month, but that will probably be next year.
If Chase wants to sit out some practices to keep the Bengals aware of his leverage, so be it. That’s his right. That would also end up a footnote folks will need to be reminded happened in two months.
At some point, if you’re the Bengals, you’d like to see Chase back at practice. Taylor says he and Chase have a plan. As long as that plan involves the star receiver taking the field Week 1 — and there’s zero indication right now that would be an issue — the rest of this is a waste of energy.
Iosivas impresses
The absence of Chase and Higgins continues to clear the way for Andrei Iosivas to turn heads. On Wednesday, he spent the entire day working the slot for the first time in his life. He looked like he belonged, even beating Mike Hilton in seven-on-seven on a cross over the middle.
On Thursday, he moved back outside and caught everything thrown his way. He stretched for a slant, beat Hilton on a comeback to the boundary and caught multiple back-shoulder passes from Burrow. He even pulled down a contested catch on the head of DJ Turner, the corner’s helmet popping off in the process.
.@JoeyB ➡️ @AndreiIosivas 👀
Training Camp | @KetteringHealth pic.twitter.com/GCesx9S66K
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) July 25, 2024
The 2023 sixth-round pick made significant strides in the offseason program thanks to work with receiver coach Drew Lieberman in Atlanta. His technique, route-running and overall efficiency took off.
He looked so good, it prompted the staff to give him a shot at the open spot in the starting lineup even though that’s a brand-new role.
“He had a great spring,” wide receivers coach Troy Walters said. “You want to get your best three players on the field. Right now, he’s probably No. 3 and playing well. We had to find a way to get him on the field. He processes quickly and does everything you ask. He’ll probably grow into that role and see if he can handle it.”
He’ll be competing with Jermaine Burton — who also hauled in a slick catch on a deep ball Thursday — for that starting job, but showing versatility provides even more possibility for both.
Through two days, for Iosivas, the Year 2 leap is apparent in both actions and words.
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Teaching moments
Tight end Mike Gesicki was running a route toward the end of Thursday’s practice and fired off an expletive when it didn’t go the way he hoped. Safety Vonn Bell was waiting for him, anticipating his route.
Upon returning to the line behind the huddle, Burrow made his way over to the tight end and they exchanged words and hand gestures about what had just unfolded.
The conversation was essentially about frustration from Gesicki about Bell knowing where he was going and Burrow letting him know he can read what he’s doing and feel free to be creative to use Bell’s leverage against him.
Gesicki’s eyes lit up talking about the conversation. This is exactly why he came to Cincinnati, feeling the freedom to be creative in his routes with a quarterback capable of reading creativity right along with him. They just need this time in camp to build that up through these types of conversations.
“Allowing me to be more creative,” Gesicki said. “It’s cool to have a quarterback who is allowing you to do that.”
New pieces are always a work in progress, but the possibilities if more moments like this unfold are fun to imagine for Gesicki, Burrow and a Bengals offensive staff excited to utilize them.
(Photo of Ja’Marr Chase: Emilee Chinn)
