What To Make of Ja’Marr Chase Skipping Bengals Practice Again, And What Comes Next?

CINCINNATI — Head coach Zac Taylor hinted at it but didn’t make a prediction.

That lesson had been burned.

Taylor said the Ja’Marr Chase situation would “probably be very similar to yesterday” after the Cincinnati Bengals Pro Bowl wide receiver defied him Wednesday by sitting out practice one day after Taylor told reporters he would participate.

This time Taylor was right. It was very similar.

Chase strolled into practice wearing street clothes after it had already begun, just as he did Wednesday.

Ja’Marr Chase Strolls Past Cameras While Skipping Practice Again

The only difference was today’s practice wasn’t in the cramped indoor facility with only one way in. It was on the fields adjacent to the stadium, and there was a route Chase could have taken to avoid the cameras.

But he elected to walk directly in front of the media.

The contract hold-in that began as part of a well-communicated plan has turned into an unscripted sideshow.

Easy to avoid cameras at the outdoor fields by going straight up the little hill and walking across the first field, where reporters can't go, which is something we've seen Burrow and others do at times in the past.

Walking directly in front of the media feels intentional. https://t.co/eCOLDo8Ptl

— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) August 29, 2024

Today was Cincinnati’s last practice before the players take the holiday weekend off and Chase extends his vacation.

The next practice will be on Monday afternoon. The only person who knows whether Chase will participate is Chase, and even that may not be the case.

Taylor held his regularly scheduled news conference before practice one day after having to do an impromptu one after Chase’s about face.

The coach continued to downplay the impact of Chase skipping every practice since the season ended except for two lighter workouts Sunday and Monday that were closed to the media — the ones that initially signaled his return despite no progress in contract negotiations.

“In this league, every week there is a different form of adversity, and you have to find the positives in it, and our team has found the positives in it — (being) able to support a teammate, find positives for other teammates and continue to go forth,” Taylor said.

“You can’t waste a day complaining about a situation,” he continued. “Keep it moving, and that’s what our guys have done. We’re all on the same page. We’re all on board with this thing. Just excited to get to game week.”

Game week will feature four practices instead of the usual three, kicking off Monday with a shorter, 75-minute session. That will be followed by the regular game weekend schedule of practices on Wednesday and Thursday and a Friday walk-through.

Chase has not said anything publicly about whether he intends to sit out games without a new contract. It’s the only leverage he has in the situation given that he has two years remaining on his contract at minimum.

That leverage dissolves if the Bengals stack early wins with Chase refusing to play.

It’s not hard to imagine a 3-1 start even without him, thanks to a cushy opening month that features games against the New England Patriots, Washington Commanders, and Carolina Panthers sandwiched around a trip to Kansas City.

The more the Bengals win, the more Chase would lose, not just in terms of leverage but also game checks.

And if the stunt of skipping games leads to the negotiations growing too contentious, the Bengals could always shut them down and force Chase to play 2025 on the fifth-year option ($21.8 million) and then franchise tag him in 2026 (approximately $26 million).

And Cincinnati could fine him for skipping minicamp and training camp practices next year; something it didn’t do this year. Plus, the amount of each game check lost would go from $58,000 per week this year to $1.2 million per week in 2024.

No one wants it to get to that point, least of all Chase. Skipping games is the only leverage he has left. Using it is a gamble.

The dice are in his hands.