The Bengals (2-4) play the Browns (1-5) on Sunday in Cleveland, as both teams try to collect their first AFC North win.
“I’m just tired of being the villain on social media,” Chase said Thursday. “... I’m just tired of seeing myself on Twitter every day. I just don’t do it anymore. I do it on the field. Right now, it’s not for y’all because I have to be professional right now. On the field, I can be a little gritty.”
Chase said Taylor told him twice to “keep the words at a minimum” and let his “play do the talking.” He probably should have learned that lesson on his own last year when he threw some shade at the Browns ahead of their Week 1 matchup and ended up frustrated.
That didn’t stop him from doing the same later in the season, including ahead of a game at Kansas City when he commented the Chiefs didn’t have any superstars on their defense.
This year, he’s listening to Taylor, but Cincinnati has no room to talk negatively about the Browns after how lopsided the “Battle of Ohio” series has been the past six years. Cleveland has won nine of the last 12 matchups and six of the last eight. In fact, no one on the Bengals’ roster has beaten the Browns in Cleveland with this team because it hasn’t happened since 2017.
Prior to last year, though, Chase had only been a part of two losses to the Browns, both during his 2021 rookie season that ended in a Super Bowl appearance. He was inactive for the blowout loss in Cleveland on Halloween in 2022, and the Bengals beat the Browns at home in 2022. His experience against the Browns wasn’t tainted enough to refrain from comment going into the opening 24-3 loss at Cleveland last year.
“It’s a regular game to me,” Chase said ahead of the opener last year. “It don’t feel no different. It’s just the hooping and hollering about the Cleveland Browns. I was about to call them the elves. ... I don’t really hear it. If you ask me, I don’t really pay attention to it because Cleveland is Cleveland.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Chase recorded just five catches for 39 yards in that game, as the offense finished with 142 total yards, including 82 yards passing for Burrow.
The Bengals this week don’t need reminded of those struggles in Cleveland, but they are plenty motivated by them.
“They’ve got the numbers on us right now with wins,” Chase said. “They know it. That’s why they brag about it the most. It’ll be a great, hard-fought game this week. It’s always a hard-fought game. They know us. We know them. It’s all about who wants it more.”
The Browns have had the Bengals’ number in recent years but are struggling through a 1-5 start and current four-game losing streak. Chase was still complimentary of the talent on Cleveland’s defense, acknowledging how good the defensive line is and calling it the “best secondary” the Bengals will have faced besides Baltimore because of how skilled and fast the defensive backs are.
Cornerback Denzel Ward typically follows Chase around on the outside, while Greg Newsome goes with him when Chase plays in the slot. Ward, a three-time Pro Bowler, has played in just three of the last six meetings, all of them wins, and he’s got three interceptions in nine total matchups with Cincinnati but only one against Burrow.
“He’s one of the best corners in the game,” Chase said. “Everybody knows it. I just love the matchup because he always keeps me at my best. He always brings his ‘A’ game, he has (among) the best feet from any DB I’ve faced. He’s just a smooth person that plays DB.”
Chase said he won’t trash talk through the media afterward if the Bengals win Sunday, but he will say some things to the Browns players. He’s tired of waiting for an opportunity to do that.
“I thought we had it last year and the year before that and the Super Bowl year,” Chase said of trying to beat Cleveland. “We had plenty of teams that were capable of doing it. It’s just about being fundamentally sound at the end of the day. Got to know the technique and what we’re doing on the field. Everyone has to be on the same page.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Bengals at Browns, 1 p.m., CBS, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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