Bengals first-round pick Ja’Marr Chase explains why he struggles with falls and difference in soccer balls

The Cincinnati Bengals have high hopes for Ja’Marr Chase, the 5th overall pick. The LSU wide receiver was one of college football’s most dominant playmakers in 2019 and has an established relationship with quarterback Joe Burrow. He had a slow start to his NFL career, however, due to declines.

Chase has dropped the last four passes thrown at him in the preseason – the last being a simple bubble screen. Falls were also an issue in practice, and Chase attributed it to a lack of focus and not looking at the ball. He also recently touched on the fact that the NFL ball was not the same one he caught in college.

“The ball is different because it’s bigger,” Chase said, via the Bengals official website. “There are no white stripes on the side, so you can’t see the ball coming from the point of the spike, so you have to look for the strings on the ball at the top, which is hard to see because the whole ball is brown and you have all six strings that are white. But for the most part, you just have to get used to it and find out what I’m comfortable catching with. “

As you can see from the two images below, one of the biggest differences between college and NFL footballs is indeed the white stripes.

Chase may be overthinking his catching process, but having to change the way you follow the ball through the air is something that can take a few reps. At the end of the day, Chase admitted that he just needed to be a pro and be successful. The ball being different isn’t the main reason he’s struggled so far.

Chase has the talent to be a special player in this league. He caught 84 passes for 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns a few years ago with Burrow as a quarterback. We’ll see if those preseason and practice reps have helped him in his transition with the new ball, but his issues with falls will be a scenario to watch as we move into the regular season.

Will Joe Burrow come back healthy this season? Can Ja’Marr Chase live up to the hype? Download the CBS Sports app to see the latest news from our team of football experts, player screenings, and more. If you already have the app, set the Bengals as your favorite team to get down to the minute titles.