Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase thought he was in trouble when he got a call from Zac Taylor’s secretary on Monday morning, summoning him to the head coach’s office.
Zac Taylor Responds to Ja’Marr Chase’s Comments
About 17 hours earlier, in the wake of a 27-3 loss to the Titans, Chase had responded to a question about needing more time to get open when he responded with, “Nah, I’m open. I’m always f–kin’ open. Excuse my profanity. I’m sorry.”
"I'm open. I'm always f*cking open." – Ja'Marr Chase.@CalebNoeTV @WCPO pic.twitter.com/UqSzPASjaX
— Marshall Kramsky (@marshallkramsky) October 1, 2023
The quote made its way into the aggregation cycle with no additional context, which made it appear as though Chase was ripping quarterback Joe Burrow for not getting him the ball when he was open.
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Chase saw the way it took off and thought the worst when asked to go to Taylor’s office, especially coming on the heels of his comments from six days earlier when he said the offense needed to take more shots.
Ja’Marr said Zac called him into his office Monday morning and he thought he was in trouble after the “I’m always F’in open” quote.
First thing Zac said: Great F’in interview”
Ja’Marr said he had never heard Zac cuss before and was relieved.
— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) October 5, 2023
“I thought I was in deep s–t. Not gonna lie, bro,” Chase said Thursday after practice. “I thought I was in trouble, if I’m being completely honest. And Zac told me, ‘Great F’in interview.’ I had the most shocked face when he told me that. It was like a relief off my shoulders, thinking he’s thinking I’m bashing my teammates and the media trying to bash me.
“It was just Zac liftin’ me up and makin’ sure that he’s on the same [page] with me and bein’ a good head coach,” Chase added.
Taylor told Chase when the quote was brought to his attention, the first thing he said was, “I want to see the whole interview” instead of the eight-second clip.
“Once he seen the whole video, he was like, ‘Oh, yeah. You didn’t even try to say nothin’ crazy,'” Chase said.
A few hours after praising Chase for what he said in the interview, Taylor addressed it at his regular Monday afternoon news conference. Taylor was talking about managing expectations and reactions to the slow start when he mentioned that he watched all of the players’ postgame interviews after the Titans’ loss.
Zac said he watches players postgame interviews with media and said he loved what Chase said yesterday. "Showed great leadership there."
— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) October 2, 2023
“Ja’Marr’s was outstanding,” Taylor said. “Really, when you want the two and a half minutes he spoke, it’s real leadership. He’s reflecting a lot on ‘when I get my opportunities, I got to find ways to be explosive and get in the red zone. We got to be more detailed looking at the playbook and watching the tape.’
“I thought he was outstanding,” Taylor continued. “You love the clip. Ja’Marr is a great example of how our best players handle it the right way. I thought he showed great leadership there.”
Chase said he’s been cautioned about the media for years, but it hasn’t been until recently that he’s realized what those warnings were about.
“It happens. It’s the league. The media builds you up; they’ll bring you back down,” he said. “I’ve heard that since I was in high school. I’m just now seeing it. Me being more mature, just handling this is gonna be good.”
Chase has made waves in the past, but he admitted the reaction to his Elves comment stunned him.
“The Elves thing had me a little shook, just with how global,” he said. “That was just so wild seeing how wild that went. I wasn’t expecting that.”
Last year, it was a shot he took at Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes after a reporter told Chase that Burrow said, “Pat was the best quarterback in the league.”
Chase responded, “Pat who?”
“I like that one, though,” Chase said Thursday. “That was a good one. Honestly, though, I was serious. I wasn’t playin’. (Burrow) was saying Pat’s the best. You’re a quarterback sayin’ that. That’s like me saying Justin (Jefferson) is better than me. We’re in the race right now. His stats look better than mine. Hell yeah. But I’m not gonna say he’s better than me.
“Everyone wants a little trash talk here and there. I like that,” he added. “I can’t wait to play them. It will be fun.”
It all comes with the territory of being famous, although Chase said he doesn’t view himself as famous and he tells his friends that all the time.
When it was brought up that his commercials are on TV all the time, Chase balked.
“I only have one commercial,” he said. “Hopefully, I get a 7-11 one. Always open. I’m about to get that on a shirt.”
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