Ja'Marr Chase could be set for injured reserve following a hip injury, potentially slowing the Cincinnati Bengals' momentum as they recover from a tough start in 2022.
Second-year wide receiver Chase sustained the injury against the New Orleans Saints in Week 6, although he still caught two touchdown passes in that game and two more against the Atlanta Falcons last week, tallying 262 receiving yards across the two games combined.
Despite initially playing through the issue, Chase appeared on the Bengals' injury report on Thursday.
Coach Zac Taylor suggested the injury would be assessed daily, but ESPN subsequently reported Chase was facing four to six weeks on the sideline after seeing a specialist.
That would represent a huge blow to the Bengals, who started 0-2 after losing Super Bowl LVI but have recovered to 4-3.
As last year, when his 1,455 receiving yards set a rookie record for the Super Bowl era, Chase leads the Cincinnati receiving corps, tallying 605 yards and six touchdowns from 47 catches.
However, the Bengals are the only team in the NFL to have three players with at least 400 receiving yards, with Chase joined by Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins (both 455).
Boyd led the way with 155 yards in last week's 35-17 defeat of the Falcons, in which quarterback Joe Burrow threw for 481 yards – the third-most in a regular-season Bengals game all-time – and three TDs, rushing for a further 20 yards and a score.
Burrow endured a dismal start to the year, with four interceptions and seven sacks against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, but now looks back to his best.
The QB's 11.45 yards per attempt against the Falcons represented a career high, while his completion percentage of 81.0 (34 of 42) was his second-best mark.
Burrow now faces the Cleveland Browns, a team he has never beaten in three attempts.
In fact, the Bengals have lost four straight to their AFC North rivals, their worst run in this matchup since dropping seven in a row between 1992 and 1995.
Bidding to end that run without Chase on Monday, Burrow and the Bengals are second in the division, two games ahead of the third-placed 2-5 Browns.ja
Seattle’s defence dismantles the New York Giants as Seahawks win 24-3
Seattle claimed their third-straight victory in dominant fashion as the Seahawks’ defence monstered the New York Giants en route to a 24-3 win.
The Seahawks sacked Giants quarterback Daniel Jones 10 times and came away with two interceptions, including a 97-yard pick six to rookie Devon Witherspoon.
The visitors opened the scoring at the end of the first quarter, Geno Smith finding DK Metcalf in the end zone on a six-yard reception.
New York were able to cut the gap through a 55-yard field goal from Graham Gano.
But the Giants’ offence was no match for Seattle’s defence and did not look like scoring again from there.
Seattle found the end zone again just before half-time and Witherspoon’s third-quarter score ultimately sealed the 21-point victory.
Colts' Taylor to come off PUP list, could play in Week 5
The Indianapolis Colts could be getting a big part of their offence back for Sunday's game against the visiting Tennessee Titans.
The Colts will activate Jonathan Taylor from the physically unable to perform list this week, and depending how he looks in practise, he could be on the field for their next game.
Indianapolis' first practise of the week is Wednesday, and it will mark Taylor's first of the season after he was placed on the PUP list at the start of training camp while recovering from ankle surgery.
Colts coach Shane Steichen told reporters on Monday that Taylor is excited to rejoin the Colts and get back to work.
The ankle injury wasn't the only issue this offseason for Taylor, as the 2021 NFL rushing champion had been mired in a contract dispute and had requested a trade.
Taylor, the runner-up for the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year in 2021, is entering the final season of his rookie deal and is scheduled to earn $4.3 million in 2023.
The fourth-year pro ran for a franchise-record 1,811 yards in 2021, but was slowed by injuries last year and was put on the PUP list earlier this summer as he recovered from ankle surgery that ended his 2022 campaign in December.
Ankle issues limited Taylor to 11 games last season, which he finished with 861 rushing yards and four touchdowns while averaging 4.5 yards per attempt.
Taylor averaged 5.5 yards per carry during his sensational 2021 season in which he also tied for the NFL lead with 20 total touchdowns while playing in all 17 games.
He'll be joining a 2-2 team that got No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson back in Sunday's 29-23 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams after the rookie quarterback suffered a concussion in Week 2.
Without Taylor in the fold, Zack Moss has emerged as the team's No. 1 running back, and has rushed for 280 yards with a touchdown through three games.
Damar Hamlin: NFL return after cardiac arrest ‘meant everything’
Damar Hamlin said his return to the NFL “meant everything” nine months after suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch.
The Buffalo Bills safety collapsed during a game in Cincinnati on January 2 and had to be resuscitated before being rushed to hospital.
Hamlin was cleared to resume his career and made his first NFL appearance on Sunday in the Bills’ 48-20 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
He told a post-match press conference: “That moment meant everything to me.
“I think it was more about proving something to myself than anything else, showing myself that I have the courage, I have the strength, I’ve got the pride, all those words, in me.
“To go through something so dramatic and be able to come back from it and to be able to still do what I love at the highest level in the world is amazing.”
Hamlin was the last player to emerge from the tunnel prior to the match and ran the length of the field before removing his helmet and soaking up the acclaim of the crowd.
Hamlin could be in the Bills’ side next Sunday when they travel to London to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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