Ja’Marr Chase had 18 catches, 185 yards, and three touchdowns through three games this season. Then the Jacksonville Jaguars came to town, and he didn’t even finish the first half. The Cincinnati Bengals lost 17-22, and one particular incident involving Chase has been noted by the NFL, with a Jaguars cornerback fined for illegal contact on the Bengals WR in that game.

In the NFL’s Accountability report for Week 4, the league fined Jaguars CB Jarrian Jones $8,201 for a facemask on Ja’Marr Chase, who took another hit on the play and was ruled out with a concussion.

It happened in the second quarter, with 12:11 left in the period. On a second-and-21 play from the Jaguars’ 33-yard line, Joe Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for a 4-yard gain. Jarrian Jones made the stop, but he also grabbed and twisted Chase’s facemask while doing it, and a flag came out, enforcing a 15-yard penalty at the Jaguars’ 29-yard line.

Things got worse from there. Linebacker Ventrell Miller came in and hit Chase, who went down hard. He was checked for a concussion and ruled out for the rest of the game.

Head coach Zac Taylor was asked about a halftime update on Chase and whether anyone talked with the referee about how the play went down.

“Ja’Marr (Chase) has a concussion, and there was no discussion with the referee,” Taylor said.

Jones picked up a flag for the facemask in the moment, while Miller’s hit on Chase went unpenalized. The fine from the league is tied only to what Jones did with Chase’s facemask.

It’s not yet clear whether Jarrian Jones will appeal the fine.

After each game, the NFL reviews the film for anything the officials missed or that deserves extra discipline, and it can hand out fines when it sees a violation. Penalized players have the right to appeal under the league’s established procedures.

It was a rough, physical contest with plenty of penalties, and Cincinnati fell short even though Burrow threw for 428 yards. Other fines came out of the game too.

Bengals players Boye Mafe and Myles Murphy were each fined $11,941 for facemask infractions, and Jaguars defender Travon Walker was fined the same amount for taunting.

Jones actually got a smaller fine than both Mafe and Murphy, even though his facemask on Chase helped set up the hit from Miller that ended Chase’s day.

For now, Chase is trending toward playing against the Dolphins, as long as he officially clears concussion protocol. Nobody knows yet how his comeback will look, so everyone around the Bengals is holding their breath.

Ja’Marr Chase’s status remains unclear 

Chase sat out Wednesday, was limited Thursday, and practiced in full Friday, but he’s still in the concussion protocol and is questionable for Cincinnati’s Week 5 game against the Dolphins.

NBC Sports’ Rivers McCown thinks it’s trending the right way, but says it’s hard to gauge Chase’s chances.

“He did fully practice today – it feels like this is trending in the right direction, but it’s hard to know without detailed reporting of where he is in the protocol and how likely he is to sit. We’re sure there will be many more reports on Chase over the next 24-36 hours. He enters the weekend a true question mark.”

Tee Higgins also got through a full practice and is still listed as questionable. That matters because Joe Burrow has never started an NFL game without at least one of them. He’s 35-20 with both and 8-8 with only one.

Higgins had a huge game against the Jaguars, hauling in 11 catches for 157 yards, which is the second-best yardage total of his career. Unfortunately, an adductor injury in the fourth quarter cut his day short, and he is now day-to-day. He tried to get back out there on the final drive, but he just couldn’t make it work.

When reporters asked Taylor post-game why Higgins went back in and immediately backtracked, he replied:

“Because he just wants to try to help us win. He knew the situation we were in. He just couldn’t do it. He went out there to run one basic (play), and I could tell (he couldn’t go). I mean, all eyes were on him when he was running the route. He couldn’t do it, but that’s just who he is. We played the Chiefs a couple years ago. He pulled his hamstring; he went back in the game. Tee’s just going to fight for you. He saw the bind we were in, and he was trying to help us.”

However, the next day, Taylor was all praise for “other superstar” Tee, who he felt stepped up in a “major way.”

If one or both of them are out, expect the passes to flow to the guys who filled in so well against Jacksonville like Mitch Tinsley and Dohnte Meyers.

Entering Week 5, Tinsley has three receptions for 49 yards after appearing in one game, and Meyers, who wants to go out and “battle for him (Ja’Marr Chase)”, has 11 catches for 129 yards in four games with one start. The picture gets murkier with rookie Colbie Young, who’s listed as questionable because of a knee problem.

Until the final injury report comes out, the Bengals are left hoping their two stars are ready, with a few backups prepared in case they aren’t.