Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and the Cincinnati Bengals have a history of struggling in the early portion of the season under head coach Zac Taylor. Over the last two seasons alone, the Bengals have gone just 2-6 in the first four weeks of football. They still finished the 2023 and 2024 campaigns with winning 9-8 records, but missed the playoffs in both years.
Stronger starts in those seasons could have made a big difference for Cincinnati, which is also why the Bengals are potentially looking at making a significant approach in the preseason in order to prevent the same thing from happening again.
The Bengals don’t usually play their key starters in preseason games, but it could be a different story this time around, with Cincinnati seemingly thinking about giving Chase and others action in the preseason games.
If anything, Chase seems fine with the idea.
Via Ben Baby of ESPN:
In coach Zac Taylor’s six seasons, the Bengals have sparingly used starters in preseason games. During that span, Cincinnati has a 1-11 record, the worst in the NFL. After running reporters through the slew of 0-2 starts to multiple seasons, Chase wrapped up his questions and arrived at a conclusion.
“Sounds like we need to play in the preseason, huh?” Chase quipped after the team’s first voluntary OTA.
Ja’Marr Chase to see action in 2025 NFL preseason?
If that is the direction the Bengals are going, it will be interesting to see just how much action guys like Chase or quarterback Joe Burrow will have in such ultimately meaningless games.
The Bengals will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 of the preseason before taking on the Washington Commanders. In their preseason finale, the Bengals will lock horns with the Indianapolis Colts.
As for their 2025 season opener, Chase and company are scheduled to visit the Cleveland Browns in Week 1 on Sep. 7.
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