Cincinnati Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase suffered a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter on Saturday in their game against the Minnesota Vikings. There have been multiple reports since then about his status, but the latest from Ian Rapoport on X was that Chase is likely to miss some time, including the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16, and possibly more beyond that.
Head coach Zac Taylor of the Cincinnati Bengals spoke to the media on Tuesday and didn’t close the door on Chase’s availability this week.
“No,” Taylor put it succinctly when asked if the reports about Chase were accurate during his weekly press conference. “We’ll just take it day-to-day with Ja’Marr.”
Rapoport’s report wasn’t definitive and used the word “likely,” but he did indicate that the MRI came back with a separated shoulder. Given that wide receivers have to extend their arms over their head on a regular basis, that is a tricky injury for Chase to come back from in one week.
“We’ll see,” Taylor added when asked if Chase had a chance to play against the Steelers. “Yeah, we’ll see as the week goes.”
Chase is having another good season for the Bengals despite multiple Joe Burrow injuries, including the torn ligament in his wrist that sent him to season-ending IR following Week 11. He has caught a career-high 93 passes for 1,156 yards and seven touchdowns. When the Steelers and Bengals played last in Week 12, Chase had four receptions for 81 yards including a 31-yard catch-and-run off a deflected pass.
Of course, this could all be a ploy by Taylor to force the Steelers to prepare for a full complement of weapons, but prior to the Rapoport report there were a few conflicting reports that make this scenario plausible. If Chase is able to go, the Steelers will have a tall task ahead of them. QB Jake Browning has been on fire since the loss in his first NFL start to the Steelers. Pittsburgh is also running thin at safety after losing Minkah Fitzpatrick to injury and Damontae Kazee to suspension.
