Ja’Marr Chase was already out of the Cincinnati Bengals’ game against the Jacksonville Jaguars when he reached for his phone.
The star receiver had left Paycor Stadium’s field in the first half after a defender grabbed his facemask and his head hit the ground hard.
He stayed down long enough for trainers to gather around him, then walked under his own power to the blue medical tent.
From there he went to the locker room, a trainer carrying his helmet, while the club checked him for a concussion. Early in the second half the Bengals ruled him out.
While his teammates were still trying to finish the afternoon, Chase posted two words on X: “Who Dey ❤️.”
The message landed as the Bengals were losing a game they could not quite close. Cincinnati fell 22-17, a result that dropped the club to back-to-back defeats and left the offense looking uneven even in a day of big numbers through the air.
Chase’s own afternoon ended early. He finished with three catches for 27 yards before the injury took him out.
Tee Higgins carried the receiving load with 11 catches for 157 yards, though Higgins later tweaked a groin and was not on the field for the final drive.
Joe Burrow completed 39 of 54 passes for 428 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions that proved costly. The ground game never arrived. Cincinnati managed just 23 rushing yards on 15 carries, which left Burrow throwing often and the defense asked to hold a lead that never quite settled.
What comes next for Chase is still unclear. The Bengals host the Miami Dolphins in Week 5, and whether he clears concussion protocol in time for that game is an open question.
A player can sometimes move through the league’s return-to-play steps inside a week, but the timeline depends on symptoms, and the club has not said how he is progressing. Higgins’ late groin issue adds another layer.
After Miami, Cincinnati has a bye in Week 6, which gives the staff a natural window to be cautious with both receivers if either is still limited. The counterweight is the standings.
Two straight losses tend to shrink the appetite for sitting healthy players, and a win before the break would steady a season that has started to tilt the wrong way.
Chase’s post did not address the injury, the protocol, or the loss. It was the franchise slogan, the same two words Bengals fans chant on Sundays, sent with a heart while the game was still being played.
For a receiver who had just been helped off the field, it read as a signal that he was present even if he was no longer available. The medical staff will decide the rest.
