What began as a simple DNP Thursday, has since turned into a nightmare scenario for Bengals fans as star wideout Ja’Marr Chase is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks with a hip injury.
The former LSU phenom first reported the issue following Cincinnati’s Week 6 win vs. the Saints. After logging a few “limited” practices the following week, Chase went on to post an 8rec/130yds/2TD statline vs. the Falcons Sunday.
He did however appear to pull up and grimace at the end of a route, but declined to provide any details as to what may have been bothering him. Head coach Zac Taylor originally downplayed the issue after Chase reportedly saw a specialist on Wednesday, calling him “day to day”.
However as the day wore on, reports began to grow grim, with the team now looking at potentially placing the 2nd year player on injured reserve. If Chase were to hit the IR he would have to miss at a minimum the next 4 weeks.
With 6TDs and 605 yards receiving through 7 weeks, including back to back 130+ yard/2 TD efforts, the injury hit Chase just as he was beginning to heat up for the Bengals. After a strong Week 1 performance, Chase had posted yardage totals of only 54, 29, 81, and 50 yards before breaking out vs. the Saints and Falcons.
Sources indicate that the 22 year old is dealing with a hip flexor strain that isn’t believed to require surgery. In the interim, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins are likely to see upticks in their target shares, while Joe Mixon could see more touches on the ground during Chase’s absence.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.