Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase hasn’t practiced in training camp. He reported on time and has been present for every session, but he isn’t stretching or going through drills.

Star quarterback Joe Burrow is close with Chase. They’ve become one of the best duos in the NFL and have been dominant on the field, but they’re also good friends.

Burrow downplayed the idea of this being a unique situation. In fact, he sounds optimistic about the Bengals and Chase reaching a long-term deal.

“I would say I went through it last year,” Burrow said. “So I kind of have some insight into how these things kind of go. And so we’ve been creating a dialogue and talking through certain things, obviously. His business is his business, but I’ve been able to give some insight into how my process was  because I think it’s pretty similar.”

Burrow agreed to a five-year, $275 million extension three days before the regular season started. The deal got done.

The fact that he believes Chase’s situation is “pretty similar” says a few things. First, he clearly believes the Bengals want to keep Chase long-term and believe he’s their top priority. Two, he isn’t panicking that Chase isn’t practicing right now because he’s waiting until a deal is done.

“He’s a key player. Next to Joe (Burrow), he’s our next one. He knows it, we know it,” Bengals owner Mike Brown said last month. “This may take a while. We are gonna bend over backwards to get it done. I can’t tell you when, though.”

In an ideal world it wouldn’t take until the Thursday before the start of the regular season to get something done with Chase.

Burrow said he only needs a few practices to get on the same page with the former Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Burrow isn’t panicking and sounds confident that something is going to get done. It sounds like it’s just a matter of “when, not if” for the Bengals’ star receiver.