Ja'Marr Chase knows Patrick Mahomes is the No.1 player in the NFL but has a hard time saying it.
The Cincinnati Bengals have a fierce rivalry with the Kansas City Chiefs, having met them in the AFC Championship Game in 2021 -- which they won -- and 2022 -- which they lost.
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The rivalry runs so deep, in fact, that Bengals wide receiver Chase refused to say the Chiefs QB's name when discussing the best players in the upcoming NFL campaign.
The reigning Super Bowl MVP is unsurprisingly the No. 1 player on the 2024 edition of the league's Top 100 list, but Chase refused to acknowledge it.
"I'm not saying him [Mahomes]," Chase said. "I give credit when it's due, but I'm not saying his name. … I'm not saying his name, brother. I'm sorry.
Chase insisted he was rocking with his own QB, Joe Burrow, who is widely considered to be one of the NFL's best signal callers outside of Mahomes.
"He's good. He's amazing," Chase said of Mahomes. "Not gonna lie, I'm salty, though. I'm a little salty. Two years in a row — I'm putting Burrow first."
The Chiefs-Bengals rivalry took a backseat last season.
Kansas City defeated Cincinnati in the regular season, but Burrow suffered a season-ending hand injury in a game against the Baltimore Ravens in November.
They subsequently fell out of the playoffs while KC went on to lift their third Super Bowl of the Andy Reid era with a win over the San Francisco 49ers.
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This also isn't the first time Chase has thrown shade at the Chiefs.
Last season, when he was asked which teams he thought he would meet in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, he replied, 'Anybody but the Chiefs.'
The year before, Chase responded with 'Pat who?' when asked who he thought was the best player in the NFL, to which Travis Kelce warned to not 'ever disrespect Pat Mahomes.'
Chase is one of the best young pass catchers in the league and, although he won't recognise Mahomes, the same can't be said the other way.
Ahead of Super Bowl LVIII last season, Mahomes was asked by 11-year-old NFL Network reporter Jeremiah Fennell which players he'd select in an all-time fantasy football draft.
Mahomes went for a couple of obvious choices at wide receiver - selecting Dolphins star Tyreek Hill and legend Randy Moss.
For his third wideout pick, he selected Chase - suggesting he's a big fan of the 2021 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
The Bengals travel to Kansas City in Week 2 of the new NFL season, where Chase will likely get a reminder why Mahomes is the best player in the world.
