Tyler Boyd sees a more polished, determined Ja'Marr Chase heading into 2023
The Cincinnati Bengals have one heck of a receiving corps to work with on offense. Now, in 2023, it could be even better based on the apparent improvement by their best in Ja’Marr Chase.
Bengals WR Tyler Boyd spoke with Charlie Goldsmith in an interview for The Cincinnati Enquirer about Chase’s development heading into his third season in the NFL. If nothing else, Chase has gotten better by acting more like a veteran in Cincinnati and his game and body have seen the benefits from it.
“Ja’Marr is just more polished about how he goes about his work day,” Boyd explained. “He doesn’t miss treatment, he’s not worrying about the wrong things outside of football. He gets here, is locked in, and does what he has to do before he gets on the field.
“Before? He used to just chill, sit around, and go play. Now, he takes things more seriously,” said Boyd. “He has become a vet. It’s the same thing with Tee (Higgins).”
If Chase takes another step as a pro? The AFC North and the NFL as a whole will have to take notice.
Over his first two seasons, Chase has caught 168 passes for just over 2,500 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns. That has given him the lead in all three categories for Cincinnati in that time and one of the best in the league during that same span.
He has been the key weapon for QB Joe Burrow as they, along with the rest of the Bengal’s cast, have taken the franchise to at least the AFC Championship in each of Chase’s seasons, including the Super Bowl when he was a rookie. Before that, Cincy hadn’t reached that level of success since 1988.
Chase has been one of the most dangerous players in the NFL as a target and once he gets the ball in his hands. With him becoming more mature based on Boyd’s words, though, he might just be ready to take it to a whole other level in his third campaign.
Chase won’t shy away from Bengals expectations
Ja’Marr Chase, and likely the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals, know there are Super Bowl expectations this season.
Just two years removed from the big game, a 23-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Chase, Joe Burrow , and the squad are still near the top of the AFC. They were just one win away from returning to the Super Bowl in the season after.
It’s nothing Chase hasn’t heard before as he said the Bengals are ready.
“I mean we never turn it down. That’s like running away from it,” Chase said on Sirius XM NFL Radio. “Of course we embrace it. You know I’m saying…All this hoo-rah-rah stuff. That’s how it is. Preseason, scrimmages going on. But, you know, when it’s really time to count? We know what time it is.”