Chase said he’s spoken to Burton before about how to handle himself as a professional, but he hopes now Burton will respond to this setback in the same way Chase did when he made a similar mistake as a rookie. He went out that next game and put up his first 200-yard receiving performance and made sure it never happened again.
“I’ve talked to Jermaine before, not for that situation. but at the end of the day, you going to learn from the situations,” Chase said Tuesday. “I had to do the same thing. So, I mean you just learn from your situation until you get what’s going on and see the consequences that have been coming. Then you’re going to understand and get your head screwed on right.”
As a rookie in 2021, Chase missed a meeting before his first career game against the Baltimore Ravens and went out and caught eight passes for 201 yards and an 82-yard touchdown in a 41-17 win on the road.
Burton could perhaps get his chance at redemption Thursday – against the same opponent.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Monday the plan was to get Burton back involved and ready to play Thursday when they play the Ravens (6-3) in a primetime road game that could get them back to .500 and pave a path to the playoffs.
“I missed a whole meeting, came in at like 10 (am) and then played in that game at Baltimore (in 2021),” Chase said. “So that was my last time being late, though. (laughter)” “I mean, it’s just rookie year, getting up, gotta know what the schedule time and so that’s what it was for me,” Chase added when pressed for more details. “I wasn’t used to waking up early and (knowing) the schedule times. But I mean, now you just gotta know your schedule, know what time you want to be here. I’m not going to speak for him but you know it’s going to happen. You live and learn.”
Chase wasn’t punished in the same way Burton was, but Chase was not struggling with the same issues settling into the league as Burton and he only missed the one meeting. He said after he played so well that game, the coaches moved on, but he knew it wasn’t OK.
He’s never been late since then.
That’s why Chase isn’t expecting an apology from Burton. He never apologized to his teammates, either, because to him that wasn’t “fixing a problem.” He chose to just prove he learned from the mistake.
“He’s a grown man,” Chase said. “I’ve had a conversation with him. He knows right from wrong. So I’m not going to constantly keep telling you something. I don’t expect Tee to do that to me. So like I said you live and learn. He’s gonna learn from the experience and hopefully don’t happen again, and move on forward.” Burton spoke with two local reporters in the Bengals locker room Tuesday while Joe Burrow and Chase were doing their weekly press conferences, and the rookie third-round draft pick told them “yeah, for sure,” he felt like he let himself and his teammates down by not showing up to prepare Saturday.
However, every other question was met with the same response: “Just gotta be better.” That included a question about what happened on Saturday, what he said to teammates, how he can overcome the setback and what his mindset is going forward.
Regardless of Burton’s role Thursday, the Bengals will be hoping for a big game from Chase, who has had some of his best performances against the Ravens in his career. He also caught seven passes for 125 yards in the second matchup with Baltimore in 2021, and in the first meeting of this season, an overtime loss on Oct. 6, he caught 10 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns.
Chase said Baltimore and Cleveland tend to put him in 1-on-1s, and that benefits him. He just wants to do what he can to help get a result.
“Gotta get the win,” Chase said. “We’ve got to finish this game like we had a chance to last game.”
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