Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase: Dealing with illness

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Chase (rest), who remains questionable for Sunday's game against the Patriots, had an illness added to his injury status Saturday, Ben Baby of ESPN.com reports.

Chase has deployed a "hold-in" strategy off and on throughout training camp and the preseason due to a contract dispute with the Bengals and suggested Friday that he will decide whether he can play Sunday. The fact that Chase is now dealing with an illness is another complicating factor, though the severity of the ailment isn't known. Tee Higgins (hamstring) is listed as doubtful for Week 1, so if Chase is unable to play, the Bengals will likely turn to Andrei Iosivas, Trent Irwin and Jermaine Burton to serve as their starting receivers. Official word on the statuses of Chase and Higgins should arrive with the release of the Bengals' inactive list 90 minutes before Sunday's 1 p.m. ET kickoff.