Taylor did not confirm that report to be accurate when asked about it in his Tuesday press conference.
“We’ll just take it day-to-day with Ja’Marr,” Taylor said. “… We’ll see as the week goes.”
Chase did not practice Tuesday, and Taylor said he would know more about the plan for him in the next day or two.
The team’s leading receiver left Saturday overtime win against Minnesota in the fourth quarter, shortly after converting a third-and-21 with a 24-yard catch that eventually led to a game-tying touchdown. He was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game and watched from the sideline.
Cincinnati had just recently gotten back to full strength in its receiving corps after Tee Higgins missed three games with a hamstring injury, returning to action for the start of the team’s current three-game winning streak.
Chase had been questionable in Week 10 with a back injury and he was nursing an ankle injury last week but hasn’t missed a game this season. He leads the Bengals in receptions (93), receiving yards (1,156 yards) and touchdown receptions (7). Chase has also led the team in receiving yards in three of the four games started by Jake Browning, totaling 22 receptions for 323 yards and a touchdown.
Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said if Chase can’t go, it will be a mix of players stepping up to replace him. Trenton Irwin started games when Higgins was out, and as the most experienced and consistent option. He said his role lately has been to be ready to play anywhere, and he’s capable of playing inside or outside. Rookie Andrei Iosivas also has played well in his limited opportunities, and Charlie Jones could see more time as well.
“Don’t have much choice (but to replace Chase) if he’s out, and we’ve had played plenty of games without Ja’Marr (last year), we played plenty of games without Tee,” Callahan said. “We’ve got plenty of other guys that have to fill in, and that’s just the nature of the whole league right now. I think you look around, there’s a lot of teams that are dealing with the same stuff and guys got to keep stepping up and raising their level of play and keep trying to find ways to win. "
The Bengals offense struggled in the first matchup vs. the Steelers four weeks ago.
Pittsburgh’s defense proved to be a huge challenge in bBrowning’s first start, as the Bengals converted just two of 10 third downs and ran for just 25 yards in a 16-10 loss. The Steelers have allow just 20.0 points per game, but will be without safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick (knee) and Damontae Kazee (suspended).
If Chase is out, the focus for the Steelers’ defense likely will turn to Higgins, but he’s shown capable of stepping up even when that has been the case. Chase missed four games last year with a hip fracture, and in those games Higgins had 371 yards and two touchdowns on 26 catches, including two 100-plus-yard games. One of those, when he caught nine passes for 148 yards, came in a 37-30 win at Pittsburgh.
“He’s not one dimensional,” Irwin said. “He’s a deep threat, a big guy but also can run routes. He’s quick and is able to get out of breaks, and that’s unique for a guy that size so it’s a tough matchup for anyone to guard him.”
The Bengals were 0-3 without Higgins when he was dealing with the hamstring injury, but they did collect a 34-20 win at Arizona when he was out because of a fractured rib. More impressive is what they’ve been doing these last three weeks without Joe Burrow.
Browning has gotten the job done by spreading the ball around, including targeting 11 different players in Saturday’s win over Minnesota — nine of whom ended up with two or more catches. That leads Callahan to believe the offense can still function if Chase is out.
“I think a lot of it’s a conglomeration of a lot of factors,” Callahan said of why the offense has been so productive the last three games. “... Jake’s playing really efficiently, which helps. He is finding completions, taking easy completions. I think we’ve been really good up front in protection, so it’s allowed us to be able to find some completions, hold the ball, work through progressions, find the open guys, and then guys have gotten open and they’ve won the matchups when they’ve needed to.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Bengals at Steelers, 4:30 p.m., NBC, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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