Ja'Marr Chase Notes a 'Regular' Joe Flacco Following Bengals' Thursday Practice

CINCINNATI — Joe Flacco returned to the practice field on Thursday afternoon as the Bengals hope for him to be under center this Sunday against the Bears. His top passcatcher, Ja'Marr Chase, didn't see any difference in the QB's arm.

Chase is used to assessing it by now, garnering an NFL-record 42 targets from Flacco in the last two games alone.

"Regular," Chase said about Flacco's form. "He looked pretty much the same to me. I didn't know he was injured for real."

Chase and the Bengals' offense have thrived with Flacco under center. The veteran fell back to earth a bit on Sunday, but he's been the perfect option to get Chase going, while the run game rises to be one of the NFL's most efficient rushing attacks.

Flacco got praise from Chase and his head coach, Zac Taylor, for trying to gut through a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder.

"He wasn't here in the offseason. He wasn't invested in our training camp, so for him to come in, it would be easy to make the decision, 'there's no way I'm playing. I've got an AC joint. We've got a bye week next week. Let's just let this thing heal up," Taylor said earlier this week. "That has not been the indication he's given to me at all. Now, he may not be able to play. We may make that decision, but for him to just want to put it out there for our team. ... Certainly goes a long way."

The Bengals sit at 3-5 with this mix of rising offense and horrible defense, but Chase doesn't think the team is up against a wall in pursuit of its championship goals.

"I wouldn't say that. No, no, I just feel like I would say we fell off a cliff where we wanted to be at, and now we gotta climb back up," Chase said.

Clawing closer to .500 on Sunday would be a nice boost before the bye week for him and the Bengals.

Complete list of players with 40 or more targets in a two game span in NFL history:

Ja'Marr Chase (42) pic.twitter.com/4LTzSmHkYL
— Jeff Bell (@4WhomJBellTolls) October 29, 2025

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