Should Bengals QB Joe Burrow Play Monday? Tee Higgins Has a Take

Tee Higgins is just like you, Cincinnati Bengals fans.

Higgins said after practice today that yeah, he and his teammates are no different than the fans and media in the way they are checking out how injured quarterback Joe Burrow is moving around these days.

“Obviously we do,” Higgins said. “We see him limping, we be like, ‘Man, what’s goin’ on? You all right?’ ‘I’m good, guys. I’m good. I’m good.’

“But sometimes he didn’t have a limp,” Higgins added. “Like during the game, he had the limp, and then next possession he wasn’t limpin’. I’m like, ‘Are you hurt?’ He’s like ‘I’m all right.’ He’s a tough guy.”

Maybe too tough.

Tee Higgins says he’s just like the media and the fans, always analyzing Joe Burrow’s gait for signs of a limp, then he throws in a Burrow impersonation. pic.twitter.com/0Gu5ipSMax

— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) September 22, 2023

Burrow clearly wants to play Monday night in the Super Bowl LVI rematch against the Los Angeles Rams, but ultimately the decision will not be up to him.

And while Higgins knows opinion won’t be popular with his quarterback, he thinks a week off would be best if Burrow isn’t fully healthy, which would be nearly impossible after tweaking the injury Sunday.

Higgins said Burrow should focus on his long-term health, not Week 3.

“I think personally, if he’s not 100 percent, he should,” Higgins said. “But knowin’ him, you never know.”

While Burrow isn’t moving and walking like his normal self, everything else feels routine.

“He’s still workin’ as hard as he always has,” Higgins said. “Still coaching us up on how he wants us to run certain routes. The leadership is still there. He still comes in being who he is.”

Not having Burrow at quarterback obviously would not be ideal, but Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, and the rest of the first-team offense got a lot of work with backup Jake Browning in training camp while Burrow was recovering from the initial calf injury he suffered July 27.

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Higgins said he trusts Browning, and the rest of his offensive teammates, to play well enough to win with Burrow on the sideline.

“We just have to go out there and do our job,” he said. “Coach is going to put us in the best position to win. It’s our job to go out there and execute. If Joe doesn’t play, at the end of the day, we still have to go do what we do.”

The last time the Bengals faced the Rams, Higgins did a lot, catching four passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns, becoming just the 10th player to have at least 100 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in the Super Bowl.

He said the 23-20 loss not only cost him a ring, but a trip to Disney World.

“I had a great game,” Higgins said. “I feel like if we woulda won the game, I probably woulda been MVP. But it is what it is. They ended up gettin’ the best of us. Hats off to them. But hopefully, I can get two again this week.”