Bengals’ Burrow, Chase, Hendrickson voted to Pro Bowl

Credit: Tony Gutierrez

Credit: Tony Gutierrez

The Cincinnati Bengals are hoping to be busy during the 2023 Pro Bowl, but if not, at least three of their players have a chance to participate in the NFL’s all-star game.

During a week the Bengals can clinch their second straight playoff berth, quarterback Joe Burrow, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and defensive end Trey Hendrickson were named Pro Bowlers on Wednesday night. The game takes place Feb. 5 in Las Vegas, which is the week before the Super Bowl and last year prevented any Bengals players from participating.

Burrow was voted to the AFC’s Pro Bowl team for the first time in his three-year career, while Chase and Hendrickson earned a secondstraight nod.

“We are very excited for Joe, Ja’Marr and Trey,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said in a press release. “Those three, as well as our players who were voted as alternates, represent a great collection of talent that we have on our team. These players put in a ton of hard work to contribute to our success and are very deserving of this recognition.”

The Bengals also had seven players voted as alternates for the AFC team in the event other players at their position are unable to participate. Safety Jessie Bates III is a second alternate, wide receiver Tyler Boyd and halfback Joe Mixon are both third alternates, kicker Evan McPherson is a fourth alternate, and safety Vonn Bell, center Ted Karras and defensive tackle DJ Reader are fifth alternates.

Burrow is the sixth quarterback in Bengals history to be voted to a Pro Bowl, joining Ken Anderson (1975-76, 1981-82), Boomer Esiason (1986, 1988-89), Jeff Blake (1995), Carson Palmer (2005-06) and Andy Dalton (2011, 2014, 2016).

The 2021 Comeback Player of the Year, Burrow currently ranks second in the NFL in passing touchdowns (31), second in completion percentage (68.2), fourth in passing yards (3,885) and sixth in passer rating (102.5). He is three passing touchdowns shy of tying his own single-season team record set in 2021, and he has thrown at least one touchdown pass in each of his last 21 regular-season games – the longest active streak in the NFL.

Chase, a second-year player who was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2021, missed four games with a fractured hip but leads the Bengals this season in receptions (71), receiving yards (881) and receiving touchdowns (eight). His eight touchdown catches are tied for the fifth-most in the NFL, and earlier this season he joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss as the only players in NFL history with 2,000 receiving yards and 20 receiving touchdowns under the age of 23.

Hendrickson, a sixth-year player who signed with Cincinnati as a free agent ahead of the 2021 season, ranks second on the Bengals this season in sacks (six) and third in tackles for loss (five) but has a team-leading 54 pressures. He has 33.5 sacks since the start of the 2020 season, the fourth-most in the NFL in that span.

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