Bengals' Zac Taylor Downplays Sideline Exchange With Star Receiver Ja'Marr Chase

It was another frustrating night for the Cincinnati offense.

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor downplayed the sideline dustup with star receiver Ja'Marr Chase. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Monday marked another frustrating night for the Bengals' offense without Joe Burrow.

Cincinnati was blown out 28-3 in Denver, and has now been held under 200 yards of total offense in back-to-back weeks since Burrow's toe injury.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor and star wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase were seen having a discussion on the sideline in the third quarter, where Chase was clearly frustrated by the offense's lack of production. Chase finished the contest with five catches for 23 yards.

Chase downplayed the incident, only noting on social media that he "plays with passion." Taylor did the same in his postgame press conference.

The Burrow-less Bengals are gonna be a brutal watch this year pic.twitter.com/4rJhM1nAmI

— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) September 30, 2025

"Ja'Marr Chase, coming off a game like this, is one of my favorite players to deal with quite frankly, because he's just competitive. He wants to win, and it comes across as emotional, but that's just a captain that works his tail off," Taylor said postgame. "All he wants to do is win the game. All he wants to do is affect the game, and oftentimes he feels like if, 'I have the ball in my hand, I can do that.' And I don't disagree with him, and we're always looking for ways to get him the ball. Obviously sometimes for him, he can't see what's going on in the backfield and some of the challenges that face back there, but I love Ja'Marr."

The Bengals are now 1-3 on the season. The offensive line is a mess. The defense is improved from last year, but still mediocre, and Jake Browning is no Burrow under center.

It could be another long season in Cincinnati.

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