Ja'Marr Chase delivers honest thoughts about the Bengals' expected preseason plan and the personal obstacle he overcame last year

Multiple times this year has Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor alluded to his starters playing more in the upcoming preseason. It's the most logical path for Cincinnati to take in order to avoid another slow start to the regular season. 

If it was wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase's decision, he would rather save himself for the real games after August.

"If it was up to me? No, of course not," Chase said after Tuesday's OTA session. "You ask me do I want to play? Not really."

Chase's patented bluntness is on brand, but that doesn't mean he believes nothing should change, specifically with him and how he approaches the season. 

Chase knows how rough seasons have begun since he's been in town. Outside of the 3-1 start the 2021 squad conducted when he was but a rookie, the Bengals are 4-8 in their first four weeks of the year going back to 2022. They've yet to win a game in the first two weeks of the season since Chase's NFL debut.

"Sounds like we need to play preseason," Chase said after reporters recounted each of the last three 0-2 starts. "Y'all found your own answer."

Chase made the decision last year to sit out preseason games and training camp altogether when he was holding in for a new contract. Both sides came very close before Chase's camp opted to play the season out and cash in this offseason. 

127 receptions, 1,708 yards, 17 touchdowns, a triple crown title, and a $161 million deal later, the All-Pro wideout's bet paid off, but it certainly didn't start that way. 

Depriving himself of practice reps while trying to force the team's hand in negotiations put Chase in the wrong headspace when the season began and it was time for him to swap a hat for a helmet. 

"I can say I wasn't mentally ready to be on the field," Chase said. "I was in my own head. I wanted to play but I was in my own head." 

Two minutes with Ja’Marr Chase on playing in the preseason and slow starts.

Does he want to play? Not really. Does he get the connection? Absolutely.

Said last year he was in his own head for the week one loss. #Bengals @FOX19 pic.twitter.com/BbVUSNqZVN

— Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) May 27, 2025

Chase opened the season with six receptions for 62 yards in Cincinnati's Week 1 loss to the New England Patriots and followed that with four receptions for 35 yards and a deflating unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Anyone could tell this wasn't the former top-five pick's final form, and he proved it in the 15 games that followed.

Chase confirmed the contract situation was the source of his mental unpreparedness, and now that he's financially taken care of, expectations this year are as high as his production was last year. 

"They paid us all this money because that's what they expect us to do," Chase said. "We all expect it."

Preseason reps or not, Chase is on track to hitting the ground running in Week 1 with nothing holding his mind back now.