The Bengals lost two players during Thursday’s joint practice with the Bears.
Running back Chris Evans and offensive tackle D’Ante Smith were injured 10 minutes apart with what appears to be significant injuries, Courtney Cronin of ESPN reports.
Both required an air cast and a cart to get off the field on a rainy day in Chicago.
Evans was injured during a kickoff return, and shortly thereafter, Smith went down during a team drill.
Evans is listed fourth on the depth chart behind Zack Moss, Chase Brown and Trayveon Williams. He has played 34 games with one start since the Bengals drafted him in the sixth round in 2021.
He has totaled 277 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns and has averaged 22.4 yards on 14 kickoff returns.
Smith is the third-string right tackle behind Trent Brown and Amarius Mims, who is out several weeks with pectoral injury. Smith has played three games with one start since the Bengals drafted him in the fourth round in 2021.
Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase isn’t practicing and won’t play in Saturday’s preseason game against the Bears. But he did make the trip to Chicago, via an Instagram photo posted by the team.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor continues to call Chase’s situation “day to day,” even after Chase did not show up for practice Tuesday. Chase had been holding in by attending practice to avoid a fine but not participating in practice to avoid injury.
Entering the fourth year of his rookie contract, Chase is eligible for a contract extension. But team owner Mike Brown’s comments at the beginning of training camp indicated the Bengals won’t give Chase an extension until after this season.
Chase is scheduled to make only $1.055 million in base salary this season, and the Bengals have exercised the $21.816 million fifth-year option on his contract for next season.
Chase has eclipsed 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons since the Bengals selected him fifth overall. Last year, Chase caught 100 passes for 1,216 yards with seven touchdowns in 16 games.
Defensive end Jeff Gunter has decided to walk away from the Bengals and professional football.
The Bengals announced on Wednesday that they have placed Gunter on the reserve/retired list. The team will continue to hold Gunter’s contractual rights in the event he decides to return to play again.
Gunter was a 2022 seventh-round pick and he appeared in 10 games during his rookie season. He was credited with one tackle during those appearances and did not make the active roster for any postseason games.
The Bengals waived Gunter last year when they cut the roster to 53 players and he returned to the team’s practice squad.
For players who want new contracts, there’s an important threshold question.
Hold out, or hold in?
Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase opted to hold in. To show up, but to not practice. It avoided daily fines for not being there, under the CBA. If also avoided a much more significant financial consequence.
Chase’s 2024 compensation comes in the form of a $1.055 million base salary and a $3.807 million training-camp roster bonus. The roster bonus was due on the third day of camp. If he hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have earned it.
While training-camp fines can be waived for players under their rookie deals, a roster bonus that isn’t earned is gone. For good.
Without that, would Chase have held out? Given that he’s holding in, it’s not a reach to conclude that Chase wouldn’t have reported for camp if he didn’t have $3.8 million riding on being there by Day Three.
As a result, the training-camp roster bonus is a two-edged sword for first-round rookies. It gives them the bulk of their fully-guaranteed pay for a given year early, reducing the impact of the offset obligation if/when he’s later released. But it requires them to be there. A holdout or any other absence squanders that money.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor repeated Tuesday what he said Monday: The team is taking Ja’Marr Chase’s situation “day to day.”
Taylor has used the same term in the 14 practices since camp started, via Paul Dehner Jr. of TheAthletic.com.
Chase had been holding in, present for practice to avoid a fine but not participating in practice to avoid injury. But he was a no-show at Tuesday’s practice.
Entering the fourth year of his rookie contract, Chase is eligible for a contract extension. But team owner Mike Brown’s comments at the beginning of training camp indicated the Bengals won’t give Chase an extension until after this season.
Chase is scheduled to make only $1.055 million in base salary this season, and the Bengals have exercised the $21.816 million fifth-year option on his contract for next seaon.
Chase has eclipsed 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons since the Bengals selected him fifth overall. Last year, Chase caught 100 passes for 1,216 yards with seven touchdowns in 16 games.
