The Cincinnati Bengals may be getting a big part of their offense back for Sunday's Week 17 showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs. Pro Bowl wideout Ja'Marr Chase returned to practice as a limited participant on Thursday for the first time since injuring his shoulder during Cincinnati's Week 15 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Chase did not practice all last week and was held out of Cincinnati's Week 16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He did not practice on Wednesday, which isn't abnormal for players dealing with injuries. Chase practicing on Thursday, however, was no small thing as it was his first practice participation in nearly two weeks.
The return of Chase on Sunday would be huge for a Bengals offense that clearly missed him during last Saturday's 34-11 loss to the Steelers. Chase has 93 catches for 1,156 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 games this season. He has five games of over 100 receiving yards, including his 192-yard performance in Cincinnati's win over Arizona on Oct. 8. In that same game, Chase caught 15 passes to break Carl Pickens' 25-year-old franchise record for the most receptions in a game.
After practice Thursday, Chase was asked what stands out about Kansas City's secondary ahead of the contest. He provided a little bit of bulletin-board material with his answer.
"If I'm being honest, nothing," Chase said, via "Jungle Roar Pod." "They just know how to play us, they know the leverages, they know what splits we in, they just know what we gonna do certain movements. They throw little double-doubles at us to stop the two best players on the outside, and that's all they do. It's not really like they got a Jalen Ramsey on their squad. So, not much."
That opened the door for an interesting back-and-forth with reporters, in which Chase did not back down.
Ja’Marr Chase didn’t back track at all when asked about his assessment of Chiefs defense. “They can take it how they want. I don’t care. … I’m not Ironman. I can’t throw the ball to myself. It’s a team sport.” pic.twitter.com/KmnaKIcLYe
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) December 28, 2023
"They can take it how they want. I don't care. … I'm not Ironman," Chase said. "I can't throw the ball to myself. It's a team sport."
The Bengals received more positive injury news earlier in the week when the team opened the practice window for starting cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. Taylor-Britt, who was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 4 with an ankle injury, started the week as a full practice participant.
While slim, the Bengals still have a chance at making the playoffs for a third straight year. To do that, though, they'll most likely have to defeat the Chiefs and Browns in the regular season's final two weeks and will also need the Colts, Texans and Steelers to lose at least once. Fortunately for the Bengals, either the Colts or Texans will lose another game as the two teams face each other in Week 18.
