Ja'Marr Chase's status for the Cincinnati Bengals' Week 1 game against the New England Patriots is up in the air again after he didn't practice Wednesday, regardless of what head coach Zac Taylor previously said.

Taylor told reporters Tuesday he was confident the wide receiver would play in Week 1 but then told reporters Wednesday: "I think I probably put my foot in my mouth speaking too quickly. Again, this is a day-to-day situation. We'll just keep seeing it as that."

After the wide receiver market exploded this offseason, Chase is underpaid compared to his peers.

The 24-year-old will make $1.1 million in base salary this season before the total jumps to $21.8 million in 2025. That is quite a team-friendly total for the Bengals considering his resume includes more than 1,000 receiving yards and a Pro Bowl selection in each of his first three seasons in the league.

Chase has the talent of someone who can be among the highest-paid receivers in the league, which is a market that reset this offseason with Justin Jefferson ($35 million per year), CeeDee Lamb ($34 million), A.J. Brown ($32 million), Amon-Ra St. Brown ($30 million) and Jaylen Waddle ($28.3 million) agreeing to new deals.

Given his contract situation, Chase did not participate in any of Cincinnati's training camp practices and was again absent Wednesday after previously practicing in a lighter capacity this week.

Taylor said the receiver is healthy, so he is not missing practice time for injury reasons.

From a football perspective, the Bengals can take solace knowing Chase won't need much time to ramp up his chemistry with quarterback Joe Burrow before the Sept. 8 opener. The teammates played together in college at LSU and are one of the best one-two punches in the league, so there likely wouldn't be much of a dropoff even with inconsistent practice.

Still, the Bengals' Super Bowl chances likely rely on Chase returning to the field alongside fellow wide receiver Tee Higgins, who is playing on the franchise tag and may leave next offseason.

That might require a head-turning deal from the Bengals, and they are running out of time to get that done before the opener.