Bengals rookie wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase's acclimation to professional football has been hotly scrutinized so far, and in some cases for the wrong reasons.
The former LSU standout, who opted out of the 2020 season and was drafted 5th overall by the Bengals, is said to have struggled at times in camp -- and it continued on Friday night in Cincinnati's preseason game against the Washington Football Team.
Chase was targeted in the passing game three times, with all three ending in drops on third-down plays that would have resulted in first downs had he reeled them in. Ouch.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor was asked about Chase's struggles after the game, and gave a tough but fair answer.
“We just expect our receivers to catch the ball, it’s as simple as that,” Taylor told reporters, according to Pro Football Talk. “I don’t attribute it to any rhythm. The ball’s coming at you, catch it, and that’s what we need to accomplish.
“We just got to continue working on it," Taylor added. "He’s getting better every day on a lot of the details, and we’ll just keep looking for improvement.”
Taken in total with earlier reports that Chase was yet to hit his stride in camp -- he dismissed these concerns by saying "Rome wasn't built in a day" -- and it's fair to see why some are skeptical about the way things are playing out in Cincinnati.
So what exactly is going on? Few pre-draft scouting reports seemed concerned about his hands -- in fact, several actually said they were above-average or better. His draft profile on NFL.com even says his hands are "sticky."
Chase's college numbers jump off the page, and even watching his early NFL preseason highlights, his brawny physique and athleticism stand out. So, for now, we'll chalk up the struggles to rust and nerves.
But, Chase wouldn't be alone in this regard. It has been reported that second-year quarterback Joe Burrow -- one of Chase's former teammates at LSU -- has looked uncomfortable and out of sync so far in camp, which is understandable given he's coming off a serious knee injury.
It's too soon to make any grand proclamations about the fate of either player's career in the long term, but for now it's safe to assume that the Bengals will have to be patient if they're expecting to see the kind of rapport and production that prompted them to draft Burrow and Chase with their first picks in consecutive years.
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