Ja’Marr Chase names toughest defensive back he played last season

Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase set the league on fire in his rookie season. With an NFL record for receiving yards for a rookie in the regular season, the same record in the postseason and many big plays, the LSU phenom made his first year in the NFL look easy.

With that said, Chase did have some struggles last season. In early November of last season, the matchup against the Cleveland Browns had plenty of mishaps.

Early in the game, Browns cornerback Denzel Ward took a pass from Joe Burrow 100 yards the opposite way for a pick six and that seemed to open the floodgates for a game that was all Cleveland.

The target on that pass was Chase, who has been on record saying that Ward was the toughest defensive back he faced last season, even adding that the matchup made him change how he approached the game. Ward got the better of Chase that day, but it doesn’t appear “Uno” has let himself forget.

On a recent episode of The Pivot Podcast, they had a chance to interview not only Chase, but Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd as well. Chase again gives respect to Ward and the entire Browns secondary, but it doesn’t sound like he’s shying away from the challenge.

“It’s game-time when we see them. It’s just on sight, that’s it,” said Chase. “Not just because Cleveland talk the most sh**. Denzel Ward did his thing. Same for Greg Newsome. I don’t think he elite (Newsome), but they just talk crazy.”

Perhaps fanning the flames of The Battle of Ohio, it appears Chase and the gang are focused on getting the upper hand on Cleveland’s talented secondary and lucky for us, they’ll get a chance to do so on Monday Night Football this Halloween night.