Ja'Marr Chase, Andrei Iosivas Tie for Week 1 Target Lead

What They're Saying

HC Zac Taylor, asked at what point he knew Chase would play: "I can't really answer that."

Did they limit his playing time? "He played a lot. We managed. We took him out on some stuff, just cuz the expectation of not praticing. But as the game went, he felt like he wanted to keep going."

2024 Fantasy Football Impact

Chase said his Saturday illness was food poisoning, so he likely saw no impact from that. He added that you'd need to "ask coaches" why he didn't see more than 6 targets, according to Mike Petraglia of CLNS Media.

The Patriots had second-year CB Christian Gonzalez shadowing Chase for the game, which might have factored in. Gonzalez was playing just his fifth pro game after going down in Week 4 of his rookie campaign. But he has impressed in limited duty so far.

Ultimately, it was encouraging that Chase played 40 of 48 offensive snaps and caught all his targets. We're likely to get better games from the Cincinnati offense going forward, and richer game plans for the team's No. 1 WR.

Week 2 holds a Chiefs matchup that could mean plenty of offense. Washington and Carolina sport non-intimidating defenses the following two weeks.