Bengals first-round pick Ja’Marr Chase had a rough time catching the ball this summer, but the wide receiver didn’t have any issues with the ball, his concentration or anything else in the season opener.
Chase caught five passes for 101 yards and the first touchdown of his NFL career and said after the game that it “was just a matter of time” before everything came together for him on the field. Head coach Zac Taylor said that there was no surprise to see Chase come through in the 27-24 overtime win.
“No. I tried to tell everybody that there was no concern on our end,” Taylor said in his postgame press conference. “Again, it’s a guy that’s working his way through training camp. Those weren’t real games we were playing. You get a chance to work out all the kinks with all these rookies, all these new players. Now, the Ja’Marr that we’ve seen — the confidence, the meetings and his approach — I would been concerned if his approach wasn’t the right way and he was sleeping in meetings and showing up late, then I would have been concerned, but it was the exact opposite.”
Chase looked like the player he was when he was catching Joe Burrow’s passes at LSU and that’s one of the best things to come out of Week One in Cincinnati.