With Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is dealing with a separated shoulder and the Cincinnati offense will likely be forced to play without him, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
After the star wideout underwent an MRI Monday, the team came away with the expectation that he will miss at least one game but could miss more.
We’ve seen Chase attempt to play through a minor injury in the past last year, when a hairline hip fracture was aggravated a week later and ended up keeping him out of four games as he missed five weeks. Perhaps, with that memory as fresh as it is, the Bengals have decided to take the cautious route.
With three weeks to go in the regular season, Cincinnati remains solidly in the playoff mix. At 8-6, the Bengals currently hold the sixth seed in the AFC, holding tiebreakers over the Colts, Bills, and Texans.
The remaining schedule consists of trips to Pittsburgh (7-7) and Kansas City (9-5), as well as a home matchup with the Browns (9-5).
Since the Steelers are now planning to roll with their third quarterback this year, it makes sense that the Bengals would use this opportunity to rest Chase. They’ll likely aim to make sure they have their leading receiver back in time for key matchups against the Chiefs and Browns.
Still, it sounds like the Bengals are worried Chase may need to rest for longer than a single week.
So far this year, the Bengals haven’t nearly had the extremely strong, three-headed receiving attack with Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd that they had last year.
Without Chase, Higgins and Boyd will take on a larger role, something they have shown they are more than capable of in the past, but filling in as the third receiver will be Trenton Irwin who is currently a distant fourth receiver on the team.
Cincinnati will hope they won’t have to rely on that threesome for too long, though. By letting Chase sit this week, the Bengals are hoping he will be able to return in time to help them close out the playoff push.
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