The rookie struggles of Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase continue.
On Sunday, Chase had two more drops during practice. Per Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Peter King’s Football Morning in America), one of the drops came in the end zone on a throw from quarterback Joe Burrow. The ball went off Chase’s hands and was intercepted by Vonn Bell.
Chase had three drops on Friday night against Washington. Although the mistakes happened in a meaningless game, the video of the drops got heavy rotation on highlight shows and on social media. It’s impossible to think Chase didn’t see and hear the criticism.
It puts even more pressure on him to make each and every catch. He knows, given that he has dropped enough passes for people to notice, people will notice if the drops keep happening.
Some would say it’s a small price to pay for being the fifth overall pick in the draft. Others would say it’s important to understand that Chase, who opted out of the 2020 season at LSU, is still young and developing and has a long way to go to get to his NFL ceiling.
Regardless, the Bengals have every reason to find a way to get Chase to wipe the past drops from his memory and work on doing that which he and everyone else know he can do. He’s a special talent. He’s just dealing with something that millions have experienced, in sports and elsewhere. At some point, he’ll figure it out. He has the skills that allow him to do the hardest parts of the job. The easiest part is securing the football, especially with the current glove technology.
Currently for Chase, the hardest thing continues to be forgetting about the drops that have happened. The more drops he racks up, the bigger that challenge becomes. His new team should be fully focused on helping him get past what undoubtedly will become a forgotten speed bump on the long road of his NFL career.
