Bengals games that Ja’Marr Chase is set to miss depending on length of absence

New dropped yesterday afternoon that Cincinnati Bengals star wide-out, Ja’Marr Chase, is going to be sidelined for the next four-six weeks with a hip fracture.

This injury news came out just as the Bengals offense seemed to get into rhythm after a blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Nevertheless, this Bengals squad will have to continue to take steps forward, to continue pushing for the top spot in the division.

Sitting at 4-3 on the year, here is a quick look at the games that Chase will miss depending on the length of his injury.

Let’s start with the optimistic view. If Chase is only sidelined for four weeks, and avoids IR he will miss games against the Cleveland Browns (Week 8, Away), Carolina Panthers (Week 9, Home), and the Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 11, Away on Sunday Night Football). The Bengals have a bye week 10.

If Chase ultimately heads to IR, he will have to miss a fourth game, according to the NFL rules for IR. That means he would miss the trip to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans in Week 12.

Worst-case scenario, Bengals fans could see Chase miss up to six weeks, which would make him miss the AFC Championship rematch as the Kansas City Chiefs come to the Queen City in Week 13.

In theory, if Chase misses six weeks, he would be back for the Week 14 home matchup vs. the Cleveland Browns, followed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 15, Away), New England Patriots (Week 16, away), Buffalo Bills (Week 17, home on Monday Night Football), and Baltimore Ravens (Week 18, home).

All told, the timetable for this injury still seems to be anyone’s guess at this point, but it looks more than likely that he’ll end up on IR and miss at least four games.