Joe Burrow on Ja’Marr Chase: ‘He’s ready to go’

The fourth-year wide receiver “held in” during training camp amid contract negotiations and has only been on the field twice for practices since the end of the 2023 season. He joined the team during two light sessions last week that were closed to media before shutting back down after Bengals coach Zac Taylor said he expected Chase would continue practicing and be ready to play Week 1.

Chase watched the final two practices last week and was again an observer Monday, but Wednesday is always considered the start of game-week preparations.

“He’s ready to go,” Burrow said in his press conference after practice Wednesday. “I saw him out there today. He looks fast, strong, like he always does. I know he’s been doing what he needs to do to stay ready if he needs to be ready, so I’m confident if he does go out there on Sunday he will be the Ja’Marr we all know.”

Chase said he plans to speak to media Friday.

Taylor spoke in a press conference before practice Wednesday, telling reporters “we’ll see” when asked three different questions about Chase’s plans and whether he could be ready to play Sunday if he isn’t practicing at this point.

Those ended up being moot questions 30 minutes later when Chase walked out of the stadium in uniform and headed to the practice fields with Tee Higgins. He participated in team stretching to open the session, then did some extra stretching with a resistance band and light receiver drills while special teams began.

Media had just a 30-minute window to view practice, but the team posted a video with Chase catching a pass from Burrow. Chase showed up on the first injury report of the season as limited for non-injury/rest.

Burrow said the team essentially is preparing for both scenarios of having Chase on Sunday and not having Chase, but he feels like he and Chase will be on the same page if his former LSU teammate does play. He shared that he has been working with Chase since the offseason, throughout camp and within the last two weeks.

“He’s going to go out and play really well, I know that,” Burrow said. “We’ll see for Sunday. I don’t have any expectations right now what that’s going to look like. I know if he’s out there what type of player he’s going to be.”

Chase is coming off a third-straight Pro Bowl season and is the last of the wide receivers that were seeking extensions still waiting on a deal.

While speaking with local media at the pre-training camp luncheon last month, Bengals owner and president Mike Brown said the organization would “bend over backward” to get a contract extension done for Chase, who still has two seasons left on his rookie deal thanks to a fifth-year option that was triggered earlier this year.

Brown indicated normally those deals are done before camp but said the hope was to get something done “sooner rather than later.”

Chase had said in various interviews last season that he wasn’t in a rush to get a contract extension until he could see where Justin Jefferson would land on his deal with Minnesota. Jefferson signed a four-year, $140 million deal with $88.7 million guaranteed in June, and more recently Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk got extensions within the last two weeks.

Chase is making just $1 million in base salary this year but earned a $3.8 million roster bonus by reporting to training camp, even though he didn’t participate. According to information on Sportac.com, he already had $25.9 million in career earnings to this point after signing a four-year deal worth $30.8 million as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 draft.

Another guaranteed $21.8 million awaits him in 2025, thanks to the Bengals triggering the fifth-year option, but Chase wants long-term security.

Burrow said he tries to stay out of Chase’s business, but the two have discussed what Burrow’s situation was like last year when he was going through his own contract negotiations that went right up to Thursday night ahead of the opener.

Although Burrow acknowledged he was more focused on getting his injured calf healthy at this time last year, he admitted “it’s definitely a distraction when it’s not done.” He would like to see Chase rewarded like he was.

“He’s a team-first, win-first kind of guy,” Burrow said. “That’s the kind of guy Ja’Marr is, and you want to reward those kind of guys.”

Whether the deal gets done or not, Chase practicing on Wednesday is at least a good sign he could play Sunday.