Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase Says He's 'Fine' After Knee Scare In Practice

CINCINNATI —

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase said Tuesday he is fine after a scary-looking fall during practice sent trainers rushing to check on him.

Chase was chasing a deep pass from quarterback Joe Burrow down the right sideline when he landed awkwardly and grabbed his left leg, according to CBS Sports. He crawled on the field, made it to the sideline, then went back down again, clearly in pain, CBS Sports reported. Bengals head trainer Matt Summers examined him before Chase got up and walked off on his own power, according to ESPN.

Within minutes, the mood on the practice field shifted. Chase was seen walking around, talking with teammates and embracing cornerback DJ Turner II, who had been matched up against him on the play, CBS Sports reported. Turner said he checked on Chase right away but that football moves on fast.

"I was just trying to make sure he was good," Turner said, according to ESPN. "The next play, nothing like that matters at all at that point."

'A Freak Accident'

Chase told ESPN Radio affiliate ESPN 1530 that the injury is a mild hyperextension of his left knee and that he would have played through it in a real game, according to Yahoo Sports. "It's just a freak accident," Chase said, according to Yahoo Sports. "Stuff like this happens all the time. It's football. Some things are out of my control, and that was one situation that I..."

Chase told reporters afterward that it will be up to Bengals staff to decide how much he practices for the rest of the preseason, according to ESPN. Cincinnati has one preseason game left, Friday on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles, though the team did not play its starters in its second preseason game, a win over the Chicago Bears, ESPN reported.

A Costly Loss To Avoid

Losing Chase for any stretch would hit hard. He has made the Pro Bowl in each of his six NFL seasons and earned back-to-back All-Pro selections, ESPN reported. In 2024 he led the league in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, and last season he caught 125 passes for 1,412 yards and eight touchdowns despite playing nine games without Burrow, who was out with a toe injury, according to CBS Sports.

Chase signed a four-year, $161 million contract extension ahead of the 2025 season that still carries the second-highest average annual value among NFL wide receivers, according to OverTheCap.com as cited by ESPN. He ranks fourth in Bengals history in career receptions with 520 and fifth in receiving yards with 6,837, ESPN reported.

He has dealt with injuries before, missing five games in 2022 with a hairline hip fracture and one game in 2023 with an AC joint sprain, according to CBS Sports. The Bengals open their season September 13 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.