Ja'Marr Chase: not at Bengals practice Wednesday, no reason given
THE FACT. Chase was not on the field for the media-access portion of Cincinnati's first practice of Titans week Wednesday, per Bengals Wire's Chris Roling and On SI's Russell Heltman, who credited CLNS Media's Mike Petraglia with first noting it. No injury was announced, and Petraglia reported Chase was in the locker room and expected to speak with reporters Thursday.
THE VERDICT. Do not panic. Zac Taylor flagged no concern on Chase this week, and he caught five of seven targets for 62 yards and a touchdown against Baltimore on Sunday, so this reads as a maintenance or personal absence rather than a fresh injury. Redraft: keep him locked in and watch Thursday's report. DFS: he stays in the pool, but hold off on single-entry builds until Thursday's participation lands.
Little different read on the DFS half of this. Waiting on Thursday's report is how you end up paying full freight for Chase with everyone else on him. Tennessee is allowing right around 246 passing yards a game, the Bengals just hung 35 on Baltimore, and nothing about Chase's role changed, seven targets and a touchdown in that game. An unexplained Wednesday absence is the cheapest ownership discount you'll get on him all season. I'm putting him in single-entry now and taking the Thursday risk rather than fading into it.