Ja’Marr Chase says he’s fine after knee scare at Bengals practice
The Bengals star receiver left Tuesday’s practice after an awkward landing on his left knee but later described the injury as a minor hyperextension and said he could have kept going.
CINCINNATI — A practice-field moment that briefly put the Cincinnati Bengals’ season preparations on edge ended with a much more reassuring message from Ja’Marr Chase: the star wide receiver says his left knee is fine after an awkward landing Tuesday.
Chase was running a deep route against cornerback DJ Turner II during the Bengals’ Aug. 25 practice when he reached back for a pass and came down awkwardly on the knee. Turner helped him limp away from the play, and Cincinnati’s medical staff kept Chase out for the remainder of the session.
The first images of Chase favoring the leg were enough to raise concern. Cincinnati’s offense is built around the connection between Chase and quarterback Joe Burrow, and an extended absence this close to the regular season would immediately change the outlook for one of the league’s most dangerous passing games.
Instead, Chase remained around the practice field, moved under his own power and soon tried to rejoin the work. The team’s medical staff stopped him from returning, according to the Bengals’ own training-camp report.
After practice, Chase described the issue as minor. “A little hyperextension, but other than that I’m fine,” he said in an interview after the session. He also indicated he believed he could have continued practicing and said he would have been able to play if Cincinnati had a game the following day.
That distinction matters. A player’s immediate assessment does not replace a team medical evaluation, and Cincinnati can still choose to reduce Chase’s workload over the next several days. But his ability to walk off without a cart, remain on the field and speak confidently about his condition made the episode look far less severe by the end of the afternoon than it did when he first went down.
There is also room on the calendar for caution. The Bengals finish the preseason Friday, Aug. 28, on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles. Their regular-season opener does not arrive until Sept. 13, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit Paycor Stadium. That leaves more than two weeks between the knee scare and the first game that counts in the standings.
For Cincinnati, protecting Chase during that window is an easy calculation. He has cleared 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first five NFL seasons. In 2025, he caught 125 passes for 1,412 yards and eight touchdowns in 16 games. Those numbers underline how much of the Bengals’ offensive identity runs through No. 1 even when the rest of the offense changes around him.
The injury also came at a point in camp when Chase had been heavily involved in competitive work. The Bengals’ practice report noted that Chase and Turner had been matched against one another repeatedly throughout training camp, turning their one-on-one battles into one of the recurring storylines of the summer. Tuesday’s play began like another of those reps before the landing ended Chase’s day.
The next useful signal will be how Cincinnati handles him in practice. A rest day or limited workload would not necessarily indicate a setback; with the regular season close, the team has little reason to push a franchise player through unnecessary August repetitions.
What matters most is whether the knee remains quiet as Chase moves, cuts and accelerates in the days ahead. For now, the receiver’s own update has replaced the initial fear with cautious relief. Cincinnati still has time before Tampa Bay arrives, and Chase’s expectation is that the knee scare will not keep him from being ready when the season opens.
