Burrow is getting his rhythm with Chase back
On the Cincinnati Bengals practice field Wednesday, quarterback Joe Burrow pulled rookie wide receiver Ja'marr Chase aside.
With the second team offense on the field, they talked about plays, routes, techniques and how they felt they were playing.
And then the Bengals franchise quarterback and the No. 5 draft pick went back onto the field to put what they were working on into place.
“We're trying to figure this thing out together,” Burrow said. “We're going to continue to have those conversations. It's going to be really beneficial for us.”
When the Bengals drafted Chase in the first round in April, they reunited a star wide receiver with his college quarterback. But even though Burrow and Chase played together at LSU, there were reasons the connection between them would take some time to gel at the NFL level.
Burrow hadn't played in a game or felt a live rush since November. During the first week of training camp, Burrow said he struggled anticipating a pass rush. As a result, the first team offense rarely made a big play.
Chase, having opted out of last season, hadn't played in a competitive game since January 2020, and didn't consistently create separation early in camp. He also dropped a number of passes.
For Burrow, the turning point came when he started having assistant coaches simulate a pass rush. The offense immediately got into a rhythm, and Burrow said he's now “back to his old self.”
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Just like Burrow's last step was feeling the pass rush, Chase is getting more comfortable with his techniques to create space at the line of scrimmage.
“He's getting better every day,” Burrow said. “When you're practicing in the NFL for the first time, you have revelations every single practice. He has had those and he's getting better every single play. I'm excited about where he's at, he's going to make a lot of big plays for us and he's going to get the ball in space and score a lot of touchdowns.”