Ja’Marr Chase would take fewer targets if it meant he would have more explosive plays. That’s what the Cincinnati Bengals star receiver is working on this training camp.
Chase wants the ball as much as possible, but his main goal this season is getting back to finishing more plays longer than 20 yards.
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Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said last week the team’s best chance of success is getting back to being more explosive, and Chase knows he can be a big part of that.
“I still can be better on my tendencies, on how I run routes, on how I see the coverages,” Chase said. “Those are the two biggest things of how to get me open. The run after the catch just talks for itself, but the biggest thing is how I’m gonna get myself open and see the defense.”
The sixth-year veteran had a career-high 185 targets last year but recorded just 15 catches that would be considered explosives, while the Bengals ranked 27th in the NFL with an explosive play rate of 7.9 percent (rushes of 10 yards or more and receptions of 20 yards or more).
Cincinnati was sixth in the NFL in that category in 2021 when the team made its Super Bowl run, recording 64 explosive plays, including 60 through the air and 23 of them to Chase. He had eight catches of 40 yards or more that year as a rookie.
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Cincinnati Bengals: Burrow still ranks among best QBs in NFL
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Cincinnati Bengals: Chase Brown among middle tier of NFL running backs
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Cincinnati Bengals: Overhauled defensive line caught attention
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Cincinnati Bengals: Linebackers expected to make leap in Year 2
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Cincinnati Bengals: Are the safety concerns a thing of the past?
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Cincinnati Bengals: Depth improved at cornerback
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How do the Bengals position groups stack up against the rest of the NFL?
Laurel Pfahler breaks down the Cincinnati Bengals position groups heading into the 2026 season in this 8-part series.
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Cincinnati Bengals: Burrow still ranks among best QBs in NFL
Cincinnati Bengals: Chase Brown among middle tier of NFL running backs
Cincinnati Bengals: Receiving corps looking for more production in 2026
Cincinnati Bengals: Offensive line looking to continue climb in 2026
Cincinnati Bengals: Overhauled defensive line caught attention
Cincinnati Bengals: Linebackers expected to make leap in Year 2
Cincinnati Bengals: Are the safety concerns a thing of the past?
Cincinnati Bengals: Depth improved at cornerback
“It’s just defenses are adjusting to us at the end of the day,” Chase said. “That’s what they’re supposed to do. It’s our job for us to get better, be better than last year and make those adjustments from last year for us to be more explosive on the offensive side. So, we’ve just got to see it, just recognize it and be able to adjust for the next play.”
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Chase has made the Pro Bowl all five years he’s been in the NFL, he’s set plenty of records like he set out to do when he was drafted and he even won a receiving Triple Crown in 2024.
However, “there’s still a lot” more space to grow and learn, he said.
“Routes, recognizing, I mean, I had MAs (missed assignments) yesterday,” Chase said Thursday. “I had maybe two MAs today. Not like I messed up or missed assignments. It’s just how I ran a route. Me and Joe (Burrow) are already talking about how we can make it into explosives, and when I finally get it in camp, it’s just: ‘How can I react to it when I see it in the game?’ So, we practicing now and when the game comes, we see it and attack it and it’s explosive.”
Chase just wants to win championships, and the Bengals found that recipe in 2021 and 2022 to win the AFC North, get to back-to-back AFC Championship games and one Super Bowl in 2022.
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They are trying to replicate that by getting back to explosives on offense and revamping the defense. The front office invested in the defensive line and safety positions this offseason, and Chase said the players are trying to set an aggressive tone in practices to establish this year will be different after three straight seasons missing the playoffs.
“Just got to come out and be aggressive,” Chase said. “That was the biggest thing every year, coming out and starting off fast. So, that’s got to be our emphasis this year. Coming out with some anger underneath us.”
That meant a punch thrown his way Wednesday, July 29, leading to a scuffle, and plenty of trash-talking with defensive backs DJ Turner and Jalen Davis and others.
Chase said he loves to see that kind of feistiness from the defense, so long as those players do it more to the opponents in games than their own teammates in practices.
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“It’s gonna bring unity to the defense,” Chase said. “They all play as one, and they already playing feisty. I want them to be more feisty, so they can have each other’s back. So that’s what it’s about. More bonding with the team.”
“It’s been pretty good so far,” Chase said of the start of camp. “A lot of competitiveness going on, and just getting each other better.”
