'I ain't never seen JD like that': Chase loved how Jalen Davis fired back in camp

BengalsWhy Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase liked his scuffle with cornerback Jalen Davis during Wednesday’s practiceBengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, left, and cornerback Jalen Davis, right, argue during practice on Wednesday in Cincinnati.AP Photo/Kareem ElgazzarCINCINNATI, Ohio — If you thought Bengals training camp was going to be a laid-back, feel-good affair, Ja’Marr Chase has other plans.The Bengals’ superstar wide receiver got into a scuffle with cornerback Jalen Davis during the first day of camp on Wednesday. And when asked about it? Chase didn’t flinch. “I ain’t never seen JD like that. Not going to lie. So it’s a little new to me, but I like it,” Chase told reporters on Thursday.Bengals update injury status of former first-round pick who was carted off field during Wednesday’s practiceBengals quarterback Joe Burrow takes a big drop in the 2026 NFL Top 100 Players rankingsJoe Burrow embraces challenge of Dexter Lawrence and Bengals’ upgraded defensive front at training campWhy Joe Burrow is watching the Bengals’ intensity level beyond the first day of training campWhat Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow lacks that coach Zac Taylor finds invaluableIn footage shared by Jaron May of WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, Chase got into it with the Bengals defense and tossed the helmet of cornerback DJ Turner II. He also jawed at Davis and even flinched towards his direction.This wasn’t accidental, and it wasn’t just emotion for emotion’s sake. It was intentional. Calculated.“I play with a lot of feistiness under me,” Chase said. “I think me just bringing it to practice, doing it with the guys at practice, I think that’s gonna help those guys get better because you never know who does that in the game with them. And you know, it might help them, the guys practice a little harder. You know what I’m saying? It might help me practice a little hard. You never know what it does.”That’s not trash talk for the sake of headlines. That’s a philosophy. Chase understands something that great competitors have always understood — you can’t simulate game-speed intensity without someone being willing to create it. And right now, that someone is him.That mutual push — the receiver daring the corner, the corner daring back — is the kind of dynamic that doesn’t show up in any stat column but absolutely shows up on game day. Chase called Davis a “savvy vet,” someone who plays aggressive despite his size and who knows his assignments inside and out. When those two are going at it in practice, everyone around them gets better by proximity.But Chase was also clear that this isn’t just about one-on-one battles. It’s about the broader culture he wants to establish on a daily basis.“We setting a tone every day,” he said. “Just gotta come out and be aggressive. That was the biggest thing every year, coming out and starting out fast.”What’s particularly interesting is how Chase frames his own role in all of this. He isn’t positioning himself as a vocal locker room preacher or a guy barking orders at younger players. He’s leading through action and competition — making the people around him uncomfortable enough to grow.That’s a nuanced kind of leadership, and it’s working. When Davis fires back, when the defense competes harder, when the receivers push through more contested reps — that’s the Chase effect in real time.With a Bengals team that has added serious firepower this offseason, particularly on defense, the energy coming out of camp feels different. Chase is helping make sure that energy has an edge to it. And if the early practice reports are any indication, this team isn’t just feeling good — they’re feeling ready to fight.The Advance Local Express Desk uses AI tools to assist in producing content, which is reviewed and edited by staff. Advance Local is the parent company of AL.com, Cleveland.com, lehighvalleylive.com,...