When the NFL schedule was released in May, the Cincinnati Bengals’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles was set to start at 4:25 p.m. ET this week. However, the NFL later changed this.
On October 15, the league announced that the Bears-Commanders game would be moved to 4:25 p.m. ET, pushing the Bengals game to 1 p.m. ET.
It seems that Ja’Marr Chase, the Bengals receiver, wasn’t informed about this change, as he was surprised to hear about it during a press conference on Thursday.
“Wait, this game got moved to 1 p.m.?” Chase said in disbelief when asked about his preferred kickoff time.
He discovered the change when he was asked if he liked 1 p.m. or 4 p.m. better, stating, “I did not know that, and I don’t think no one was going to tell me, either, until you did.”
Chase went nine days without realizing that the kickoff time had changed. He said he didn’t know because he lives “under a rock.”
After finding out the game would start at 1 p.m. ET, Chase seemed a bit disappointed, as he prefers playing in the 4 p.m. ET slot.
“I don’t like that time, though,” Chase said about 1 p.m. games. “I don’t like that time because it’s too early in the morning for me to wake up. [4 p.m.] is pretty cool; it’s like right in the middle of the day and you get to leave after and still have some time to go eat dinner with your family. I’d probably say 4. They should’ve kept it there.”
While 1 p.m. might not be too early for most, Chase isn’t a fan because he likes to sleep in.
“I’m not a morning person; it takes me about two hours to talk to people in the locker room,” Chase said.
At least now Chase knows the kickoff time, so the Bengals won’t have to worry about him arriving late for Sunday’s game. The Bengals will be wearing their white tiger uniforms this weekend for their home matchup against the Eagles.
