Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is already unhappy with his contract, but he made even less money for the Week Two game against the Chiefs.
Chase’s paycheck was dinged with a $31,599 fine from the NFL for what the league termed “verbal abuse of an official.”
During the game, Chase got up and screamed at the referee, apparently thinking he had been hip-drop tackled. He hadn’t been, but he then drew a 15-yard penalty for his actions. And now he’s drawn a fine as well.
The player who tackled Chase, Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie, was not flagged and not fined because he did not commit a penalty, despite what Chase thought.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor confirmed Saturday that wide receiver Tee Higgins will make his 2024 debut Monday night.
Higgins said Friday he would return after missing the first two games with a hamstring injury. He tweaked his hamstring in a Sept. 5 practice.
Higgins, who is in a contract year, had 42 catches for 656 yards with five touchdowns in 12 games last season.
Taylor said defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (hamstring) will not play after missing practice this week.
Defensive tackle Kris Jenkins (thumb) will play with a club, and safety Vonn Bell (back) is trending positively. Defensive tackle B.J. Hill (hamstring) is less certain, Taylor said, as a game-day decision.
Through two games, the numbers for Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin aren’t great.
Eight catches, 39 yards, no touchdowns.
Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury acknowledged on Friday the obvious importance of getting the ball to the team’s best receiver.
“We got to find a way to get Terry more involved,” Kingsbury said, via JP Finlay of NBC 4. “That’s on me. He’s a fantastic player.”
The passing game needs to get more involved generally. In Week 1, quarterback Jayden Daniels ran for 88 yards and threw for 184. In Week 2, the rushing total was chopped in half, and the passing figure was pushed to 226.
McLaurin got more targets (8) and catches (6) than anyone else in the win over the Giants. The problem was the total gain. Just 22 yards.
So McLaurin is involved. The problem is that the plays to McLaurin aren’t racking up territory. Last week, for example, tight end Zach Ertz had 62 receiving yards. Receiver Noah Brown had 56. And running back Austin Ekeler had 47.
The next opportunity comes in prime time, when we get our first close look at Daniels in a standalone (sort of) game. LSU vs. LSU at quarterback.
One big question isn’t whether McLaurin will get the ball more. It’s whether he’ll move the chains farther when he does.
Ohio has two NFL teams (if you didn’t know). They both are trying to get public money for new or renovated stadiums.
Via Sean McDonnell of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reese has made it clear that, if Cleveland gets money from the state for a renovated or new Browns stadium, the Bengals want theirs, too.
“You can’t give everything to Cleveland and leave us with the scraps,” Reese said during a recent public meeting of the Hamilton County Commission.
The statement comes on the heels of the Harrison County Commission releasing plans for a $1.25 billion renovation of Paycor Stadium, where the Bengals play. The Bengals, for their part, have yet to embrace the proposal.
“The team will review the materials in due course and believes an approach of responsible investing in this great public asset can serve the community for NFL games, major concerts and other events,” the team said in a statement.
None of it matters unless and until the Bengals and Hamilton County work out a new lease; the current deal expires in 2026. The Cincinnati Business Courier, via Sports Business Journal, recently reported that the two sides “may be far apart.”
The efforts of the Browns and the Bengals to shake maximum cash from the taxpayer money tree is the latest dance in the broader game of stadium politics. Despite the fact that NFL teams are worth more and more (and more) money, they want free money for the places where they play.
Voters would, in most markets, tell the teams to get bent if the measure was on the ballot. Politicians fearful of being the ones responsible for losing a popular team seem to be inclined to work the backchannels necessary to find the free money.
When it comes to the state of Ohio, they need to be thinking about two teams, not one.
Bengals receiver Tee Higgins expects to make his 2024 debut against the Commanders on Monday Night Football.
“That’s my plan,” Higgins said, via video from Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Higgins injured his hamstring during the Sept. 5 practice and missed the first two games. He returned to practice Thursday for the first time since his injury.
“Just overstrided one time. Hamstrings, you’ve got to really stretch them,” Higgins said. “Just happened to get tight that day. Tweaked it. Didn’t think it was anything, but it ended up being something more than what I thought it was and had to sit out those two weeks.”
Higgins calls himself “100 percent.”
“Great. Feel great,” Higgins said. “Obviously, unfortunate with the injury sat out the first two weeks, but finally ready to get my feet wet this week and ready to go.”
The Bengals will release their game status report Saturday, but Higgins has no doubt about his availability.
“It was tough, obviously, preparing myself all offseason not to miss a game. Unfortunately it happened,” Higgins said. “Luckily, it was at the beginning of the season, so still got a whole season left.”
Higgins, who is in a contract year, had 42 catches for 656 yards with five touchdowns in 12 games last season.
Defensive back Vonn Bell, who appeared on the practice report Thursday with a back injury, did not practice Friday.
