Ja’Marr Chase is not easing into Bengals training camp quietly.
With Cincinnati veterans set to report Tuesday, Chase used an Instagram workout video from Miami to send a blunt message about where he stands heading into the 2026 season. The 2024 Triple Crown winner sounded energized, confident and very much in work mode.
“Alright, right now we in Miami, man. Literally last workout before we report, bro.
Man, I ain’t gonna lie, it’s been a good offseason... Honestly, can’t complain about nothing.
S***'s going on. Haters gonna hate, but the one thing that ain’t stopping is that money.
That s*** is always gonna flow, you know why? ‘Cause we working.
If y’all ain’t working, wake the f*** up.”
That kind of talk fits Chase. He has never come off like a player interested in hiding his confidence, and the video matched the message. The route-running, the burst, the ease with which he moves - it all looked like a receiver ready to remind everybody exactly who he is.
There’s a different feel around Cincinnati this time of year, too. The Joe Burrow-Ja’Marr Chase partnership has always given Bengals fans something to dream on, but the buildup to 2026 carries a little more edge.
Burrow, who has grown more reserved with the media over time, has been more openly upbeat about what the Bengals can be this season. Chase appears to be right there with him.
That matters because the last few years have not exactly been smooth. In two of the past three seasons, Burrow suffered serious injuries that wrecked Cincinnati’s postseason hopes. In the 2024 season, the defense was the unit that let down a healthy Burrow and Chase.
Now the outlook looks different. Cincinnati has added pieces, including Dexter Lawrence, and the defense is viewed as much more settled than it was a year ago. If that side of the ball can hold up, Burrow and Chase have a chance to make the whole thing dangerous again.
And that’s really the message underneath Chase’s workout clip. Yes, he mentioned the money.
But the louder point was the work. He made it clear that the success keeps coming because he keeps grinding.
For a Bengals team that has already been to two AFC Championship Games and Super Bowl LVI with this core, Chase’s latest burst of confidence feels less like offseason noise and more like a warning shot. If Cincinnati gets healthy versions of Burrow and Chase and the defense is merely passable, another run to the Super Bowl is on the table.
For now, the wait is almost over. Chase made sure the final stretch before camp sounded a lot more like football season than the offseason ever does.
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