As Bengals three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase thunders down the stretch of his fourth season, the third NFL receiving triple crown in this century is on his radar.
Before Wednesday's practice as the Bengals prepped for Sunday night's game in Los Angeles (8:20-Cincinnati's Channel 5), Chase stopped on his go route into history to chat for Bengals.com senior writer Geoff Hobson's conversation this week.
Chase delved into how mastering the playbook has allowed him to have his biggest season yet, how his communication with Joe Burrow is so good they can team for 264 yards and three touchdowns while barely saying a word, and how he relaxed after Thursday night's blockbuster in Baltimore.
The Conversation
GH: After one of the greatest performances in Bengals history Thursday night, how did you spend the weekend?
JC: I went to Miami to check on my house. A little condo I have. I got a massage and then I got a boat.
GH: Do you own a boat? I've seen a few pictures of you on one.
JC: No, but I get one. I do like the water. Pisces. I have to like the water.
GH: Right. Your sign. Born March 1. What is it about the water you like?
JC: I don't know. I just always grew up on the swimming stuff. I guess it's in my blood.
GH: Were you a good swimmer?
JC: I don't know how I learned how to swim. I think I just started swimming. I honestly can't remember.
GH: Why Miami?
JC: I love it. Just for me to get away sometimes. That's where I was working out when I came out of college. I don't see myself living there, but it's a nice spot to stay sometimes.
GH: You seem to be New Orleans through and though. That's where you would live, I imagine.
JC: I don't know. I haven't really decided on what I want to do when it comes to living in places, yet.
GH: What kind of boat do you go on?
JC: Big boat.
GH: Do you fish?
JC: I don't fish.
GH: What do you do on the boat?
JC: Party. Party on it. Relax. Sometimes I get the massage on the boat. The ocean. Feels good, you know? Relaxing.
GH: Ever hear of the receiving triple crown?
JC: Yes.
GH: Have you been thinking about the triple crown?
JC: No. I just try to play.
GH: You're leading in the three categories. Yards. Catches. Touchdown.
JC: That's pretty cool.
GH: I'm sure you knew that.
JC: I knew it. It's something on my Sticky Note. I try not to keep it in my mental. I just try to play.
GH: The triple crown has been done twice in this century. I think Cooper Kupp in 2021…
JC: Cooper Kupp did it, yeah.
GH: Steve Smith Sr. did it in 2005.
JC: Steve Smith did it? I did not know that.
GH: Why is it so rare?
JC: As receivers, the quarterback has to throw us the ball. We're not like quarterbacks or running backs where they have an easier way of touching it. Not saying that their job is easy. But for us, it's a lot more go through to get the ball than those guys back there.
GH: How did you get open in Baltimore even though they knew it was coming to you?
JC: Zac (Taylor) and Pitch (Dan Pitcher) did a good job of just moving me around in the offense. I was on the same page with Joe on scramble drills. We had some opportunities to make plays. After the catch. They did a lot of different coverages at me. It wasn't just cloud, quarters, man, two-man. They did a good job just throwing me anything.
GH: You still got open. How many different spots did you play that night?
JC: All over the field besides running back. Probably running back, too.
GH: Mike Gesicki was talking about how you know the playbook and how well you have to know it to move around like you do and how that movement puts the defense on its heels.
JC: You do have to. I've been waiting for this year to happen. To finally just move around like this. Be free. And an opportunity to show it.
GH: Did you earn that opportunity or is it something you could have done the last few years?
JC: I earned it . I had to. I had to earn it just because of TB (Tyler Boyd) leaving. And Tee (Higgins) already had some slot routes. He doesn't run a lot of slot routes. It was already part of my job as an open spot to learn that spot. Like Andrei (Iosivas) comes in, he learns every spot. He just doesn't learn the inside slot. That was the same thing with me this year. Learning every position. Not just one position. One dimensional.
GH: So now that they have total faith with you in the playbook, they put you anywhere.
JC: Yes.
GH: You have played the slot in the past, right?
JC: I played a little bit. It just wasn't as many different routes and targets that I've had now.
GH: You had a big play out of the slot on the last drive Thursday night. The 21-yarder on the left sideline.
JC: Joe just bought time. That was the route that was called. It was like an over route. Over and out. Instead of an over route across the field.
GH: Maybe you don't run that out of the slot last year?
JC: I've ran it in practice. I haven't run it in a game.
GH: Where do you think you're most effective?
JC: Moving around. Not just one-dimensional. I like the outside. I'm an outside type of guy. I never really sat there and said I'm better at inside than outside. I've always been an outside guy. So that's probably my thing.
GH: What's your favorite play from this year?
JC: Probably the deep post against Baltimore. From the slot. First play of the second half. First game.
GH: Why?
JC: I like the route. The catch, the timing. That was just a great executed play.
GH: The guy whose Bengals record you broke, Isaac Curtis, had ten 60-plus touchdowns. The last one came at age 33 with 62 yards of YAC. How long can you keep up the YAC?
JC: That's a good question. I'm not looking that far down yet. But it will be here soon enough. I'll be doing this as long as I can. As long as my bones don't feel old.
GH: The same guy who threw Isaac that last touchdown threw his first touchdown catch 10 years before. Kenny Anderson. Isaac always says Kenny was a big part of his success. How much of a factor is Joe?
JC: He's always been a factor in my play. We've always been on the same page. I've always been a factor in his play. We just happen to be on the same page, same timing. Thinking the same thing. We always talk to each other first. That's how we're so good.
GH: That 21-yarder we were talking about, the over and out. Did you guys talk before that because you never ran it in a game?
JC: No. That was a full play. That game, we really didn't talk much. I told him one thing. But we didn't get to see that look again.
GH: You told him one thing the entire game you caught 11 balls for 264 yards?
JC: Yeah.
GH: All this stuff is unsaid?
JC: Yeah.
GH: Kind of freaky, isn't it? Like some sort of mental telepathy, isn't it?
JC: I just think over the years, what are we on, six years now? Two in college. Four now. Six years of hard work has panned out in us not having to say a word.
GH: What's the best quality you like about Joe?
JC: I like the fact that he's not afraid to tell me what he sees at quarterback. By that I mean he puts himself in the receiver's shoes and tries to literally dialogue the route for us. He's expecting what the safety's doing, what the corner is doing. I think that's pretty cool how he dialogues the whole play.
GH: Can he see the play before it happens?
JC: If we're talking through it in the film room, he can see it if we're talking like that, us communicating. The majority of the time he's expecting me to read and see the same thing he does.
GH: When's the last time you guys talked and it happened?
JC: Touchdown against Cleveland. (An 18-yarder on Oct. 20) Took advantage of the press opportunities. We were trying to get press all game and finally we caught it and he just told me to be ready for it.
GH: Do you see yourself being with him the rest of your career or a good part of your career?
JC: I see it for a long time right now. We've been together for a long time. We enjoy each other's company. I don't see anybody leaving.
GH: Do you ever do anything off the field together?
JC: Yeah.
GH: Have you ever been on a boat with him?
JC: I haven't, actually, I haven't. We did a lot, but not on a boat.
GH: That has to happen for Pisces and Sagittarius.
