Cincinnati Bengals Lose 2 Players for the Year But Get Encouraging News on Ja’Marr Chase

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said Sunday that Ja’Marr Chase suffered an AC joint sprain in Saturday’s 27-24 overtime win against the Minnesota Vikings, and the wide receiver is considered day to day.

It was a welcome bit of positive injury news after Chase left the game in the fourth quarter and returned to the sideline in street clothes with his right arm in a sling under his sweatshirt.

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Chase’s final play was a 24-yard reception to convert 3rd-and-21 on the drive that ended with Joe Mixon’s one-yard touchdown run to tie the game, but Taylor said the receiver had been fighting it all game.

“I could tell it was tough,” Taylor said. “There was not much he could do. You could tell by the way he was coming off the field after one of (Tee Higgins’) touchdowns that there was no way he was going to be able to play with that the rest of the day.”

The fact that Taylor labeled Chase as “day to day” rather than “week to week” suggests there is a chance he could play Saturday at Pittsburgh, which certainly is good news compared to the alternative.

But Taylor announced the worst possible outcome for two other players who left Saturday’s game with injuries. Defensive tackle DJ Reader and rookie cornerback D.J. Ivey are both out for the season after getting hurt in the first quarter.

The loss of Reader is especially crushing on many levels. Not only was he playing at an elite level, Reader, a two-time team captain, is the person everyone points to as the heart and soul of the defense.

Making it even more gutting is that Reader is in the final year of his contract and was poised to make one final run at a big contract in free agency. Reader already had age working against him, as he will turn 30 in July, and this sort of injury is likely to affect the offers he receives as well.

Reader tore his left quad in Week 5, 2020, his first season with the Bengals. He fought his way back from that and was as good as ever in 2021. Now, he’ll have to endure the same type of rehab on the right quad.

Ivey tore his ACL while on punt coverage, ending his rookie season just as he was starting to get more playing time and making impact plays, such as his recovered fumble last week against Indianapolis.

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“D.J. Ivey has really worked hard to put himself in a position to help us,” Taylor said. “With both of those guys, we’ll be pulling for them in their recoveries.”

The “next man up” mentality almost seems insufficient when it comes to Reader. Look for Zach Carter, Josh Tupou, and perhaps Jay Tufele to have expanded roles as the Bengals try to find ways to offset Reader’s absence.

“I think that there’s a lot of guys that will fit in there, and we’ll continue to assess what that’s going to look like as we continue to go,” Taylor said. “It’s that time of year where you lean on a lot of guys that have gotten a lot of reps for you and know what’s going on. Now their number is called, and guys get an opportunity to rise up and make a name for themselves.”

A 2022 third-round pick, Carter has seen his playing time increase substantially in his second season. Tupou is one of the most veteran players in the locker room, joining the Bengals as an undrafted college free agent in 2017.

He’s been through two head coaches and multiple defensive line coaches and has stuck around as a key depth piece.

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