Ja’Marr Chase Wants Joe Burrow to Skip Week 1, Make Sure He’s Fully Healthy

The wide receiver outlined his reasoning on NFL Network Friday afternoon.

The Bengals are currently scheduled to open their 2023 campaign against their intrastate rivals, the Browns, in Cleveland on Sept. 10.

If wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase has his druthers, however, Cincinnati will be without a key piece for its first game of the season: quarterback Joe Burrow.

What?

“I told him that, with all honesty, I don’t want him there,” Chase told NFL Network Friday afternoon. “I sat out an extra game [in 2022] just to let my hip heal up. You don’t want to cause no other problems later on in the season.”

Burrow strained his right calf on July 27, leading coach Zac Taylor to tell reporters the Pro Bowler would be out “several weeks.”

Joe Burrow is playing Week 1, right?@Real10jayy__ on @nflnetwork:

“I told him, that with all honesty, I don’t want him there.” pic.twitter.com/0YbX8KHKTL

— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) August 4, 2023

“I told him as long as he’s there after Week 5 and on, we’re good, brother,” Chase said. “He told me he’s gonna see how he feels when the time comes. He doesn’t know when he’ll be back, but he’ll be back soon.”

Burrow threw 35 touchdowns against 12 interceptions in his third season, garnering MVP votes and leading the Bengals back to the AFC championship.