The Cincinnati Bengals ruled out Ja’Marr Chase against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11.
Not a shocker, though Chase himself did throw off some onlookers with a couple of his social media posts, one in which he showed off the white and black cleats that match the team’s alternate helmets for Week 11.
But Chase otherwise remains on the expected return timetable even though he was on crutches earlier this week.
Said timetable still means a possible (but not guaranteed) return against the Tennessee Titans in Week 12. The crutches are likely a precautionary measure at most before full clearance and the team wasn’t going to throw him out there without practicing, anyway.
Worst-case scenario, Chase misses one more week. But there’s blatant optimism surrounding the situation and no reason to fret over the Week 12 return date.