Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor provided a status update on two key players on Sunday afternoon. Pro Bowl wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase sprained his AC joint in his shoulder and is considered “day-to-day” by Taylor while defensive tackle DJ Reader tore his quad and will not return this season.
“We’ll continue to see where this week goes,” Taylor said of Chase when asked of his availability for the Bengals’ upcoming game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday. Taylor added it’s too early in the week to predict if Chase will practice on Tuesday.
Chase injured his shoulder against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday and was unable to finish the game. The former No. 5 overall pick has 93 catches for 1,156 yards this season. It’s his third consecutive season amassing over 1,000 receiving yards.
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The Bengals (8-6) will resume practice on Tuesday and that’s when the first injury report will be posted. Cincinnati has seven days before their next game when they hit the road to face the Steelers. The severity of Chase's sprain will determine how much time he misses.
If Chase can’t go against the Steelers, the Bengals will rely heavily on wide receivers Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd as they did in the final minutes to beat the Vikings.
“You've got to have weapons to be successful in this league and we've always known that and so again, it's not always going to be perfect,” Taylor said. “It's not always going to be there and so you need guys to take over the game and we had a lot of guys take over the game yesterday and step up and make big plays and that's just the NFL and you watch games all over the place and it's usually great players stepping up and making plays in big moments.”
Losing Reader is going to impact the Bengals’ defense in a big way. Reader has been the most consistent player in defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s unit this season. He was voted a team captain and in addition to his stellar play on the field, he’s also become the voice of the defense.
Cincinnati’s run defense has struggled with Reader on the field this season so losing him makes things even more challenging. Several players will have to step up in place of Reader on the defensive line. Look for guys like Jay Tufele, Josh Tupou and Zach Carter to fill Reader’s role.
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“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 continue to look like as we go, but it's kind of that moment, that time of year where you need on a lot of guys that have gotten a lot of reps for you and know what's going on and now their number's called,” Taylor said. “And so again, guys get an opportunity now to rise up and make a name for themselves. And so again, we've got some guys that we can count on in there.”
Reader is in the final year of his contract with the Bengals and if this ends up being his final year in Cincinnati, there's no question about the impact he's made.
"He's just such a leader, such a consistent force on the defensive line. I think he's playing outstanding, just so consistent every single day," Taylor said of Reader. "Someone that coaches could count on, some of the other players could count on, always has the right mindset day to day."
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December 16, 2023 at 03:00PM
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Bengals consider Ja'Marr Chase 'day-to-day' with shoulder injury, lose DJ Reader for season - The Cincinnati Enquirer
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