Ja’Marr Chase Goes After Justin Jefferson Before Vikings-Bengals

At the heart of the NFL’s No. 1 wide receiver debate, Ja’Marr Chase appears adamant about making former LSU teammate Justin Jefferson his rival.

With the Cincinnati Bengals approaching a Week 3 road matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, Chase was asked if it would be “allowed” for him to do the “Griddy,” Jefferson’s trademark touchdown celebration.

Chase didn’t have plans to, but with the idea in the air, he showed some consideration — but only if it would upset Jefferson.

“I mean, if he doesn’t want me to do it, I wanna do it,” Chase said. “If he doesn’t want me to do it, then I’m gonna do it, purposely. I wanna piss him off.”

Justin Jefferson Speaks on Rivalry With Ja’Marr Chase Entering Vikings-Bengals Week 3

Since entering the NFL, the former college teammates have paced the NFL as two of the league’s top receivers. Last season, Chase won the triple crown, leading the NFL in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and receiving touchdowns (17). He also became the first receiver to surpass 1,700 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns in a single season.

Meanwhile, Jefferson has been the epitome of consistency, posting the most receiving yards by any player in his first five seasons (7,432).

There are convincing arguments for each player to be named better than the other; however, this week could be a meaningful eye test as both Jefferson and Chase will be playing without their starting quarterbacks. Joe Burrow is out with a toe injury, while J.J. McCarthy is not expected to play after suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 2.

“It’s always extra when you have a player like that that’s top in the league just as well as I am,” Jefferson said Thursday before the game. “Of course, that competitive aspect is there, but at the end of the day, it’s about our team and it’s about winning.”

Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase? Ranking the NFL WRs by the Numbers

Approaching Sunday’s matchup, CBS Sports’ Douglas Clawson did a deep dive into the No. 1 receiver debate with Jefferson and Chase.

In summary, Jefferson has an edge as the best pure route-runner in the league:

Jefferson is the best route runner in the NFL. He leads the NFL in yards per route run (2.63) since entering the league in 2020. Chase ranks in the top 10 (2.27). He’s an elite separator. His career explosive catch rate is actually significantly higher than Chase’s (25% vs. 17%). OK, so Jefferson’s route running has to be phenomenal if he’s going to outpace Chase in that category, given what our eyes tell us about Chase’s otherworldly athleticism.

Jefferson might also have the best hands in the NFL. His career drop rate of 4.3% is lower than Ja’Marr Chase’s at 5.5%…

There’s also the argument that Jefferson has averaged more yards per game than any player in league history without a top-10 quarterback.

“Ja’Marr Chase averages 91.4 receiving yards per game with Burrow in his career and 58.4 in seven games with Jake Browning and Brandon Allen (six of those were started by Browning). Obviously, a smaller sample, but I think that illustrates the value of a superstar quarterback to a degree,” Clawson added.

Chase’s case centers around being the best playmaker in the NFL. His combination of size and speed has helped him lead the league in yards after catch (2,505) and become one of the greatest finishers in league history — posting the most 60-yard touchdowns before turning 26 in league history (12).

For comparison, Jefferson’s play style can be likened to Jerry Rice, while Chase’s playmaking is more akin to Randy Moss in this debate.

Overall, Clawson gave Jefferson the slight edge due to rivaling Chase’s production without the benefits of a superstar quarterback.

Jefferson has also done so despite opposing defenses completely selling out to stop him, boasting the highest double-team rates by a landslide from the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Chiefs’ Andy Reid on Xavier Worthy’s Injury Progress, Week 3 Availability

While the 2025-26 NFL season is still in its infancy, the Kansas City Chiefs have already dealt with a multitude of injury situations. The offensive side of the ball, in particular, is banged up as September rolls on.

Two players dominated the attention this week, with both being wide receivers. 2024 first-round pick Xavier Worthy (shoulder) and 2025 fourth-rounder Jalen Royals (knee) are rehabbing from respective ailments.

Fortunately for the reigning AFC champions, things are moving along nicely. Speaking to the media on Friday, head coach Andy Reid provided the latest on Kansas City’s injuries.

Andy Reid Drops Xavier Worthy Injury Update for Chiefs’ Week 3 Game

Reid says Worthy has “done a nice job” in practice, but he stopped short of confirming he’d play on Sunday against the New York Giants.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Reid said. “I know questions will be [about] Xavier and so on. I’ve just got to see. I mean, he practiced today and did a good job. Jalen Royals practiced today. Both of them ran around pretty good. We’ll just see how it goes.”

When asked whether it’s a question of shoulder stability, readiness or re-injury risk, Reid again deferred to a wait-and-see approach. He said he’d consult with Rick Burkholder, vice president of sports medicine and performance, to assess the wideout’s progress later on Friday. Worthy suffered his dislocated shoulder in Week 1 and was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

Speaking on Wednesday, quarterback Patrick Mahomes discussed what it meant to have Worthy back on the practice field.

“Yeah, I think more than anything having him out there is just a threat in general,” Mahomes said. “He can, at any moment, take a pass — short or long — he can take it to the house. Having him out on the practice field was very encouraging last week. Obviously, we didn’t know after that injury in Brazil but seeing him out there, he wanted to stay out there. It was kinda like holding him back.

“Hopefully we can go through a good week of practice and have him out there but if not, guys will step up and guys will make plays. I’m just excited to get those guys back and be able to go out there and try to have some success on offense better than we did this last week.”

Jalen Royals Set to Make NFL Debut on Sunday Against Giants?

The bad news for the Chiefs is defensive end Mike Danna (quad) and cornerback Kristian Fulton (ankle) both missed Friday’s practice. That doesn’t bode well for either player’s availability for Sunday Night Football. On the bright side, Royals being a full participant on Thursday and getting in good work once again on Friday is a tremendously positive sign. It might just set up his professional debut.

That would be a significant development for the Day 3 pick out of Utah State. Royals not only missed practice leading up to Kansas City’s opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, but he didn’t even travel with the team. Knee tendonitis held the rookie back, but his return to work this week quickly became a full-fledged participation.

In two preseason games, Royals caught 3 passes for 14 yards. In his unofficial debut versus the Arizona Cardinals, he posted a Pro Football Focus overall offense grade of 63.0. Royals’ size and speed could help the Chiefs’ offense in a big way if he plays this weekend.

Without Worthy and Royals, Kansas City has primarily relied on the trio of Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and tight end Travis Kelce as its options for Mahomes.

UPDATE: Per the Chiefs, both Danna and Fulton have been ruled out for Sunday. Worthy and Royals are questionable.

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