The Cincinnati Bengals need Ja'Marr Chase on the field on Sunday.
The Bengals are trying to get their season moving back in the right direction, and that's a lot easier if their WR1 can play.
Chase is questionable for Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers due to an illness.
MORE: Mark Andrews trade could be in the cards for scuffling Ravens
Is Ja'Marr Chase playing today?
The expectation is that Chase will indeed be active for the Bengals against the Packers.
"The team will see how he feels in the morning, but Cincinnati expects to have Chase in the lineup as Joe Flacco makes his first start," NFL insider Jordan Schultz wrote on X late Saturday night.
Flacco is the big key to all this.
The Bengals made a trade early in the week to land Flacco from the Cleveland Browns. They had decided that Jake Browning wasn't good enough as a fill-in for Joe Burrow, and so they traded for the 40-year old former Super Bowl winner.
Flacco actually already beat the Packers earlier this season with the Browns, so it'll be a familiar opponent for him.
But it'll help Flacco greatly to have all his weapons available.
If he has both Chase and Tee Higgins out there, that's stronger weaponry than he had in Cleveland, and it could help him find a bit of the fountain of youth on his new team.
The Bengals need Flacco to deliver, in order to keep them in the hunt long enough that when Burrow can come back, there's still something to play for.
More NFL News:
- Chargers add RB who hasn't played in NFL since 2022
- Chiefs seeking upgrade at key offensive position
- What Jets' RB Breece Hall has said about his trade rumors
- Packers facing Joe Flacco for 2nd time in 4 weeks
- Why Cowboys let Rico Dowdle leave for Panthers in free agency