The Bengals (3-7) are desperate for a win but face the streaking New England Patriots (9-2), who come to Paycor Stadium on Sunday with an eight-game winning streak. Cincinnati will need its offense at its best, even without its top receiver, and Higgins said he is ready to lead the way.
“I feel like I show that every single week,” Higgins said. “That’s my goal is just to go out there and perform at the highest level against pros. So, I mean, yeah, I feel like we got two No. 1s (at receiver) for sure.”
Higgins will surely draw the most attention from the Patriots’ defense, with No. 1 cornerback Christian Gonzalez expected to travel with him, but another Bengals player could take some of the spotlight Sunday.
Quarterback Joe Burrow, working back from September surgery to repair a Week 2 turf toe injury, showed up as a surprise full participant on the practice report Wednesday and was taking the first-team reps Thursday during the media viewing period. Joe Flacco, who has started the last five games, has been limited.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor danced around a question Wednesday asking if Flacco was definitely starting, as he still continues to work through a shoulder injury he’s now played through for two full games. And, when asked if there’s a scenario where Burrow starts, Taylor didn’t say “no.”
“Like I said the other day, until we get through some practices, there no reason for me to speculate on that,” Taylor said.
Higgins said he asked Burrow if he will play and Burrow gave him “a look.” He didn’t know what that meant, but he was assuming it was a good sign.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
By all accounts, Burrow appears ready, but only he knows how his toe – on his non-planting foot – is feeling as he increases his workload. Higgins wouldn’t be surprised if Burrow plays.
“Joe’s been looking good,” Higgins said. “I mean he looked good last week when he was practicing. I’m happy for him, just to get his feet back wet and it’s been good. … He’s practicing like he was Week 1. Joe’s been looking outstanding, man. I mean he’s slinging it deep, short routes, everything has been pretty good.”
For Higgins, it doesn’t seem to matter if he is catching passes from Burrow or Flacco. He’s on a nice touchdown streak with Flacco right now, catching five of his seven touchdowns this season in the last four games.
Higgins hopes to keep that going, while also potentially handling a larger load of the targets. He’s got 544 yards on 35 catches this season. Chase leads the team with 861 yards on 79 catches but with fewer touchdowns at five.
“It doesn’t really change for me,” Higgins said. “I go in every single week with the mentality around dominating and that’s been my mentality since Day 1.”
The big question will be who steps up behind Higgins. Andre Iosivas has been the clear No. 3, and then there’s Mitch Tinsley and Charlie Jones. Higgins said he feels like this is a deeper receiving corps than the last time Cincinnati was without Chase for a game, back in 2023, but Iosivas is the only other wideout with at least 10 catches.
Tinsley, a usual practice squad player who made the 53-man roster out of training camp, has caught two deep balls this season, including one for a touchdown, but adds just one more reception for a total of 49 yards. He is looking for more opportunity Sunday.
“I think how you do anything is how you do everything, so for me, it’s just trying to execute, whether it’s on special teams, it’s just trying to be the best player I can be,” Tinsley said. “I don’t want there to be anything I can’t do. As far as my role, I just want to give the coach confidence I can go in there and make that play or make that block or whatever it is.”
Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher, specifically when asked if Jermaine Burton could be in the mix, did not want to share who he is looking to specifically for more snaps, but said plenty of guys should be motivated this week.
“It’s going to be a whole host of guys that we will afford opportunity,” Pitcher said. “That was a message to them (Wednesday) morning when we talked to the team is when you don’t have Ja’Marr available – everybody has eyes in their head, they can see how big of a piece he is of what we try to do week in and week out. We can look at that and feel sorry for ourselves or there should be seven or eight guys walking around this building with some energy knowing that those opportunities gotta go somewhere. I’m not going to outline specifically how we’re going to employ each individual, but there are going to be a lot of guys with chances to make an impact on this game.”
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