On Tuesday, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor expressed a lot of confidence that wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase will be in the lineup for the season opener against the Patriots.
Taylor sounded a lot different when he spoke to the media after practice on Wednesday. Chase did not practice at all a day after Taylor’s pronouncement, which also featured Taylor saying that the wideout would continue practicing all this week after getting on the field for the first time this summer on Sunday. Taylor said that he “probably put my foot in my mouth speaking too quickly” about Chase’s practice plans and took a more measured approach to the outlook for Week One.
“I think every day is a new day, we’ll keep working through it. . . . I think it’s wise for me just to say we’re gonna take it day-to-day and see what tomorrow brings,” Taylor said, via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Taylor said that he thinks Chase can still play on September 8 even if he doesn’t practice again this week, but it looks like everything is very much up in the air when it comes to the availability of the Bengals’ top wideout.