Former LSU star helps Ja'Marr Chase take victory lap around critics
Ja’Marr Chase is having more fun with his critics after a big day against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After posting four catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns, the former LSU star is teaming up with another former Tiger with a victory lap.
ESPN analyst and former LSU defensive back Ryan Clark joked about the criticism of Chase’s preseason drops after Sunday’s game.
“Man, it’s a good thing Ja’Marr Chase can’t catch,” Clark posted. “He might have 5 TD’s instead of 4.”
Chase made his third and fourth touchdown catches in Sunday’s 24-10 upset win over the Steelers, continuing to show why the Bengals reconnected him with former LSU star Joe Burrow.
Shortly after the game, Chase responded to Clark’s tweet with several laughing emojis and a crying emoji.
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Perhaps no one in Cincinnati is a bigger Ja’Marr Chase fan than Joe Burrow. The Bengals franchise quarterback is familiar with the wide receiver from their time together at LSU. Coming off an impressive Week One win, Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase teamed up to respond to their critics.
“Thought he was dropping everything?” Burrow quipped as he walked to the podium for his postgame press conference in Week One.
Chase caught five passes on seven targets for 101 yards and a touchdown to known off the Minnesota Vikings 27-24 in overtime. In addition, Burrow finished the game with 261 passing yards and two touchdowns.
The impressive showing silenced noise which built throughout the offseason about the Bengals offense.
“That’s just trash talk,” Chase told reporters. “Block out the noise. I knew I was going to do it, just a matter of time.”
New ball, new problems
According to Ja’Marr Chase, the NFL-style football is what caused his preseason problems. Although he wants to make it clear the new ball is not hard to catch.
“The ball is different because it is bigger,” Chase said via the team’s website. “It doesn’t have the white stripes on the side so you can’t see the ball coming from the tip point so you actually have to look for the strings on the ball at the top, which is hard to see because whole ball is brown and you have the six strings that are white. But for the most part, just have to get used to it and find out what I am comfortable with catching.”
In an effort to get used to the football he will be catching, the former LSU star has been staying after practice to get extra reps in. The Bengals have also got their money’s worth from their Jugs machine, as Chase is doing everything he can to correct the problem.
“Haha I never said it was hard to catch. They asked me what the difference was in the ball,” Chase later posted, quoting a story saying the NFL ball was harder to catch than the NCAA ball. “Don’t change my words!”