Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase claps back after NFL fines him for new celebration

1 month ago 17

The Cincinnati Bengals are 2-0 to begin the 2026 NFL season following their big Week 2 win over the Houston Texans. Not only did their defense look great, but the offense was able to beat a tough Texans defense as well.

Ja'Marr Chase, the Bengals' No. 1 WR, made an incredible catch for a touchdown during the Week 2 win. It's one of the best catches of the season so far, but his celebration afterwards got a response he was not hoping for.

Mike Petraglia of CLNSCincy.com shared Chase's complaint about the NFL from his Thursday press conference, where Chase revealed the NFL fined him for his celebration. Chase clapped back at the league, expressing frustration over the fine.

Ja'Marr Chase claps back at NFL over fine for TD celebration

"I think this is where superstars have to get in with the NFLPA and fight for our money because if (Kyle Juszczyk) is getting fined for doing a drinking gesture, a juice gesture, then I mean I'm getting fined for an elbow... doing the first down," Chase said.

He continued, "I mean, I can't really do much about it. I mean, we can complain. I don't even think we can tweet about it because we get fined for tweeting about it. But like, it's really like players got to be much everything. But we got to have a superstar in the NFLPA to help us along the way."

Ja’Marr Chase on his fine for the elbow cell: “I think this is where the superstars have to get in with the NFLPA and fight for our money because if (Kyle Juszcyk) is getting fined for doing a drinking gesture, a juice gesture, then I mean I'm getting fined for an elbow doing the first down. I mean, I can't really do much about it. I mean, we can complain. I don't even think we can tweet about it because we get fined for tweeting about it. But like, it's really like players got to be much everything. But we got to have a superstar in the NFLPA to help us along the way.”

— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) September 24, 2026

Chase is clearly not a fan of the NFL fining him for his new celebration during Sunday's win. The celebration that Chase said was "literally like a wrestling move" drew some question marks from the NFL, enough to warrant a fine.

Kyle Juszczyk was fined by the NFL for a celebration of his own, which was him mock-drinking juice, as his nickname implies. But the NFL took it as drinking beer or alcohol and fined him for it.

Chase's "wrestling move" celebration might not have been meant to be whatever the NFL determined it looked like, but they are fining Chase for the celebration.

MORE: Drake London apparently tells fan he will 'f— him up' as Falcons WR's frustrations boil over

Predictably, Chase is not a fan, but he's doing more than just appealing the fine. He revealed he plans to try to find a way to use a similar celebration without being fined.

The Bengals' superstar WR also made his feelings clear that there should be a "superstar" on the NFLPA who can "fight for our money" regarding these celebration fines.

Chase also called out the NFL for how the players can't really do anything about these fines, including allegedly tweeting about it, which would result in another fine.

There's clear frustration from Chase about his celebration leading to a fine. The exact amount of his fine isn't known, and he's making more than $40 million per-year on his large contract extension.

But Chase has a right to be frustrated by the NFL's fine for his celebration. Regardless of what his celebration actually was meant to be, Chase is frustrated with the NFL and called them out during his Thursday press conference.