What he’s not is the 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year. Chase finished third behind Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson with no first-place votes.

“He wrote that down somewhere,” Jimmy Chase says. “He takes that into account. He’s not really satisfied. It’s like the Triple Crown went under the radar. ‘Oh, and he won the Triple Crown.'”

What he is, most definitely, is singularly focused. Another reason the new money hasn’t changed him is because Ja’Marr Chase desperately wants to win the Super Bowl.

“I still wake up the same,” he says. “Eat the same. Still the same person.”

That means something to players, always the first to whiff insincerity. Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., an incumbent captain, says he won’t be surprised, either, if Chase is voted one this year. He sees what Walters sees.

“He’s a guy when he speaks, people listen,” Walters says. “He does it on the field, and I told him one of his goals is to be more vocal and be a leader off the field with his words, and he’s done a good job so far.”

Isaiah Williams, the second-year wide receiver who is one locker down from Chase, says he’ll eavesdrop to pick up some intel.

“I heard some of his recovery sessions are three hours long,” Williams says. “OK, I can see why they can throw him 30,000 passes one week and then do it again the next week. And he doesn’t lose a step. You have to put a lot of work in recovery to do that week after week.

“He’s most definitely stepping up (talking) in the meeting room and locker room, but he leads by example. Like how he takes care of his body. Everybody sees it. One of his favorite things is acquiring therapy. Now Jermaine (Burton) is doing it. I’m doing it. When you see in the locker room how much he does to make sure he’s prepared, how he recovers, it’s a testament to how much he does away from here. I’m a guy who doesn’t believe in luck or coincidence. There’s a reason he’s the best in the league. He loves playing football and he works hard.”

Even the jawing DBs give Chase his due. After the yelling, there are also moments he’ll tell them how he thinks they could have done it better.

“I think it’s hilarious watching it on the sideline,” says slot cornerback Dax Hill of the yammering. “I feel like his presence, getting hyped up on the offensive end, that’s his way of leading. Getting the guys around him rejuvenated. He’s a prime example of the right way to do it with consistency the way he’s done it the last four years.”

“The fear of being mediocre,” means Chase can remember exactly when he felt mediocre. You have to go all the way back to seventh grade on the outskirts of New Orleans. But he remembers.

“Going against damn-near the best cornerback in the state,” he says of future LSU teammate Kristian Fulton, 1 ½ years his senior.

After practices and between meetings this camp, Chase prowls the weight room and the recovery area with his daily routine. He just left the weight room, where, flat on his back, he used long sticks to make sure his legs were straight off the ground for 30 seconds so his abdomen seared with heat. Walters, who had jumped in with him, grunted with pain as the clock ticked down. Chase looked over impassively.

“Yeah, it hurt,” Chase says later as he hunts for a snack. “But I’m used to it. Troy doesn’t do it all the time. I do it twice a week.”

This day is young even though practice has been over for 50 minutes.

“Got the time?” Chase asks as he moves to his next station in his fear of being mediocre.

Sounds like a time stamp for a receipt.