Bengals Beat: Ja’Marr Chase explains how he injured his hip, Joe Burrow Calls Patrick Mahomes ‘the best right now’

CINCINNATI — For a guy that loves the deep ball, Ja’Marr Chase is playing the long game with his career.

That is why Chase didn’t want to chance returning from his hairline hip fracture against Tennessee last Sunday in Nashville.

Chase said he didn’t want to risk injuring himself further by trying to play through an injury until he was fully comfortable getting on the field.

“Yeah, so that was the main part of me missing the Titans game,” Chase said Wednesday in his first public comments since injuring his hip. “I didn’t want to come back, I didn’t know if that was too early, too fast, so I just told Zac I want to worry about long term and we all on the same page with the staff and the trainers too, so they were all on the same page with me, just making sure long-term wise that I’m handling everything the right way.

“That’s what I told Zac, I told him I didn’t feel too comfortable yet. I wanted to give myself another week of preparation for the next game if I had a chance to.”

Chase revealed that he suffered the initial injury when Saints defensive back Paulson Adebo rode his back and drove him into the turf on his first touchdown catch in New Orleans on Oct. 16.

“I had a hairline hip fracture,” Chase said. “It took place in the New Orleans game, I hyperextended my right leg on a touchdown. I just thought it was maybe a fluke, something regular. Then I kept playing. I came in Wednesday to lift and couldn’t really move, I was too stiff. I told the trainers that I don’t really think I should be doing too much cause I can’t really move.

“Later in the week, I did a little preparation for the game, and I felt good at the end of the week, but during the first two days of the week I didn’t feel too good. By the time the game came, my adrenaline was hyped and I felt good playing. Then I did a get hurt again, re-aggravated again right before the half. I felt it pop and couldn’t really walk, so I sat down.”

Chase broke into the now infamous “Stan Walk” celebration where he grabbed his right hamstring, feigning an injury. Little did he know the irony at the time that he was actually injured on the play.

“But I didn’t know that, though. I did the dance not knowing I was hurt, correct,” Chase said.

Will he do that celebration again?

“I wanted to. I might have to. I don’t know if will, no,” Chase said, leaving the possibility open.

One week later, against Atlanta, Chase played through some discomfort and outran three Falcons defenders to the end zone after catching a ball near the sideline at the 15. He jumped into the stands. He would come out of the game with a hip injury and return in the second half.

The next week, Chase began a four-game hiatus to rest and heal. The Bengals lost in Cleveland on Monday night, 32-13, before going on their current three-game win streak. Now, Chase says after practicing but not playing in Tennessee, he’s ready to go this week against Kansas City.

“We are going to see how I feel later in the week, but I am expecting to take some (game) reps,” Chase said. “I felt good moving around finally picking up speed running in a straight line, finally got some cuts in at the end of the week. I felt good.”

The last four weeks has been an unpleasant flashback to what it was like during COVID.

“Boring, pretty boring. For the most part I’ve been at home, streaming and playing games,” he said. “Then you know I finally started getting back into the facility, I was happy to see guys, happy to just get up and get out the house. It just made me realize I can’t nothing for granted. I can’t take everything in front of me for granted from now on.

“I wouldn’t say nervous, it’s just me praying. I never really know what’s going to be the outcome until me playing again (knocks on the table), so for the most part it’s just making sure I’m confident in myself in coming back to the field and being 100 (percent).”

Chase has watched as the likes of Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and Trenton Irwin have picked up the slack. Chase has 608 yards, six touchdowns and 47 catches in seven games before missing the last four. Chase said Higgins suggested he didn’t need to rush back.

“It was funny because me and him had a little chat about me being out and me being on crutches,” Chase said. “He told me, ‘I’m kind of glad you’re on crutches because now I get a chance to show the world what I can do with me and Joe.’ I’m like, ‘Honestly, I don’t have a problem with what you just said, you know what I said?’ Handle business.”

Handling business is something Joe Burrow is looking forward to this week if Chase is indeed back in action.

“He’s one of the best in the league so when a guy like that comes back and enters your offense, it’s going to change the way defense’s play you,” Burrow said. “Just adds more explosiveness. He can score from any point on the field and teams know that. It adds a fear element.”

It was that fear element that led to a different game plan against Chase in the AFC Championship. Chase burned the Chiefs for a franchise-record 266 yards and three touchdowns in last season’s 34-31 Week 17 win over the Chiefs at Paul Brown Stadium.

Now Chase re-joins a Bengals offense that scored 30 or more points in two of the four games and went 3-1 in his absence.

“We’ve gotten better as the season goes,” Burrow said. “That’s how the season should go. You get more reps, you play more ball together, you have more practices. You should be playing your best ball at the end of the year.”

Burrow With Big Praise for Mahomes:

Joe Burrow is not showing any ego when it comes to his third matchup with Patrick Mahomes. Despite his 2-0 record, he is showing nothing but respect for his counterpart coming to town this weekend.

“He’s the best right now. He’s been playing the best all year,” Burrow said Wednesday. “It’s fun to watch him play, he does it a lot of different ways. There haven’t been a lot of people like him to come through the game.

What does Burrow appreciate the most about the way Mahomes plays?

“He has a lot of different ways to beat you, with his legs, he can do it outside of the pocket, inside the pocket,” he said. “He can do it down the field, with the quick game. Just the total package.”

Burrow then reminded everyone about the reality of any positional comparison in the NFL. Mahomes doesn’t play on Kansas City’s defense.

“We’re playing the defense that they have. They have a really good defense,” Burrow said. “Coaches think about the game as a whole how you call plays in certain situations based off what kind of offense they have. As an offense and as a quarterback, that’s not really something I think about.”

While Burrow wasn’t about to sing his own praises, his offense coordinator believes Burrow most certainly belongs in the national discussion with Mahomes, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Brian Callahan can see a future where Burrow-Mahomes turns into Brady-Manning.

“I hope so. I hope that’s the case. I really do,” Callahan said. “For both, for football fans and the NFL. I hope that that’s what that looks like. I hope that they both of these these quarterbacks play the way they’ve been playing for the rest of their careers and are marquee match ups every time they face off. I think that’s that’s great for that’s great for football. That’s great for the Bengals. That’s great for Mahomes and the Chiefs.

“I think that’s what everybody wants. I think that anytime you get premiere players like like Mahomes and Burrow together, it’s great for competition. It’s great for the sport, and if you’re a fan, it’s got to be exciting to want to go watch that.”

Callahan had an up close seat for the tail end of the Brady-Manning rivalry, as an offensive assistant on the Broncos from 2010-15.

Mixon Back:

For the first time since taking a hard fall to the ground in Pittsburgh on Nov. 20 and suffering a concussion, Joe Mixon was back on the practice field Wednesday inside the IEL Indoor Structure. Mixon remains in concussion protocol and cannot be officially cleared out of protocol until he clears practice with no symptoms.

“He’s not fully through the protocol yet,” Taylor said. “He can’t do that without having practice.”

Samaje Perine, who set a franchise record for running backs when he caught three touchdown passes against the Steelers, had another strong game in Mixon’s absence on Sunday in Tennessee. Perine ran 17 times for 58 yards and a touchdown. He also caught four passes for 35 yards.