Bengals Beat: Tyler Boyd Sympathizes With Ja’Marr Chase, Supports Tee Higgins, Zac Taylor Appreciates Unselfishness Of The Receiver Room

CINCINNATI — Tyler Boyd has taken his share of knocks over his career.

As a slot receiver who goes over the middle and takes hits and blocks in the run game, the eighth year receiver is not afraid of contact downfield.

So when Ja’Marr Chase reportedly suffered a separated right shoulder going over the middle and catching a clutch 25-yard pass on third-and-21 last Saturday, he could relate more than most.

Boyd would love to have Chase on the field Saturday in Pittsburgh but that’s not possible this week. And like Chase told Joe Burrow early in the season regarding the quarterback’s calf strain, Boyd knows they need Chase a lot closer to full strength for him to be effective.

“He’ll have to know (his own situation) but if it was me, depending on how I feel, I mean I never want to rush a serious injury,” Boyd said. “I’m not sure what it is specifically is. But yeah, I mean, I don’t want to ever go play a game if I’m not at least 80, 90 to 100 percent. So, I don’t know what it is but it’s up to him.”

With Chase out, Boyd and Tee Higgins will have to compensate, along with Trenton Irwin, Andrei Iosivas and Charlie Jones. And Boyd might have to come up with more plays like his third-and-9 44-yarder in overtime vs. Minnesota.

“We’re moving around a lot,” Boyd said. “Well, not a lot more but here and there and it’s kind of the same, but we’re not going to just single out a specific guy to just be that guy because our guys down we’re gonna need everybody to come in and help plays. And whoever goes into other position where Chase was we need you to make the same play. You might not get it exactly how we want it but as long as we go out there and do what we’ve got to do just make plays and stay sound and catch everything for Jake, I think we’ll be in a great position.”

Head coach Zac Taylor looks at it from a different perspective. Taylor sees a wide receiver room that is remarkable in its unselfishness. Consider, two of the top three may not be in Cincinnati next season. Yet, there’s been zero distraction or drama over contracts or personal statistics.

“You always want your best player to be available. But that’s just life. So the only time it ever comes up is whether someone’s play or not and then we move on. So that’s just kind of how we are built to operate because at this point because we deal with this kind of stuff all the time. We really don’t think that much about it.

“There’s no selfishness. That’s key. Those guys do such a good job. And I can think of couple of instances last week with Tee and Ja’Marr both. It was a frustrating first two and a half quarters and them coming to the sidelines in a very respectful tone asking for a route, ‘Hey give me one of these based on how they’re playing me.’ It’s great communication to be able to do that, and not deal with players (egos). These guys are respectful.

Taylor appreciates how every receiver that communicates does so in a constructive tone.

“There are things sometimes I don’t see from field level from a technique standpoint (like) the corners playing that they’re showing us. The other part of it does such a good job communicating that but it’s helpful.”

Push for excellence:

If anything can be said about the three amigos in their time together since the start of the 2021 season, they push each other to be great. The bar was certainly raised last week when all three, Boyd, Chase and Higgins all made incredibly important catches that led to the win. Without any of the three, the Bengals don’t walk off the field winners.

“I always always expect some crazy out of (Higgins) or Chase because those are the studs,” Boyd said. “Those are among some of the best in the league. So when you see things like that you kind of like are prepared for those kind of moments. Those guys are gonna push me. I’m going to push them, you know in all areas of the field whether it’s on the field or off the field.

When something doesn’t go well, like when Boyd dropped the ball against Houston that could’ve led to a game-winning touchdown, it was his brothers in the receivers room that picked him up.

“It’s just a unity in that room. We believe in one another and we want to see each other amount to something far greater than football. But when you see a guy like Tee. or myself or Chase go make a crazy played, it’s like it’s hard time. I want to go do that, too. So we go and keep rallying up each other and feeding off each other.”

Contract years can be a messy time for players, psychologically. But Boyd says that’s where these Bengals have each other’s backs, including picking Tee Higgins when he needed it this year.

“A lot of guys may get into their own head or feel like they’re not wanted or feel like they’re better than this,” Boyd said. “It’s a lot of things you can kind of go about it. There’s so many different factors around, starting with myself in our group. We do just a great job of just uplifting him and making him feel worthy and valuable to what he want to get paid and whatever that is and it’s not too many guys.

“That’s just talking – saying you shouldn’t play, what are the contract and things like that. ‘(Are they) going to call me at some point?’ But it’s just the way the business falls. We’ve got a lot of great players on this team and you kind of you can’t pay everybody. So you got to kind of play the waiting game and just see how things go.”

Advice that Boyd himself clearly has considered as 2024 looms.

Burrow wrist surgery details:

Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Thursday that world-renowned hand and sports orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Graham performed the wrist repair on Joe Burrow on Nov. 27. The surgery was to repair the scapholunate ligament in his wrist. The “pop” Burrow heard in his wrist was the result of two bones shifting in his right hand as a result of the ligament tear. The full recovery period is expected to be 4-6 months.

Homecoming hero:

Every time Boyd goes back to Pittsburgh, it’s a homecoming and this week is no different for the receiver out of Pitt. There is speculation that Boyd could wind up in Pittsburgh next season as a free agent but for the time being it’s all about taking care of business and putting the Steelers out of playoff contention with a win at Acrisure Stadium.

“I mean first of all it’s a divisional opponent, you know, they already got us one up,” Boyd said referring to the 16-10 Steelers win in Cincinnati on Nov. 26. “So this is kind of a must-win for us to keep our hopes alive because Pittsburgh is still a game out of it. And right now we got a game up on them.

“So going into Pittsburgh – like we did two years (straight) and winning those games previously – would mean a lot to us to go out there and get that win because it just keeps our hopes alive moving forward. So I mean only thing we can do is just control we can and just dominate when we get on the field.”

Backing Browning:

Count Tyler Boyd as one of those genuinely impressed with the way Jake Browning has handled himself in the four games since Burrow went down injured.

“I kind of trusted and believed in Jake because I mean Burrow had been dealing with injuries last two seasons, and we’ve been getting a lot of reps with Jake through the whole offseason, in camp,” Boyd said. “So, I felt like we were going to start into games with Jake, so that being said,
I was already comfortable and trusted him prior to this opportunity he got. I didn’t know but I felt like he was going to step in and lead us in the right way and do everything he could to help us winning and that’s what he’s been doing.”