Facebook Pixel

    Tee Higgins Injury Update: Will he play in Week 14?

    With only a few hours until the 1:00 PM games’ kickoff, Tee Higgins and his injury status is a looming question for fantasy football. Will Tee Higgins play in what would be a great matchup? Or will fantasy managers need to find a late second replacement for their opening round of the playoffs?

    Sunday, December 13th: Tee Higgins is active for the Cincinnati Bengals Week 14 matchup.

    Tee Higgins suffered a hamstring injury late in Week 13’s game

    Cincinnati Bengals star rookie receiver Tee Higgins is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. He hurt his hamstring while attempting to jump over a defender in the fourth quarter of Cincinnati’s 19-7 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

    Higgins was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday and Thursday. He’s officially listed as “questionable” on the Bengals’ injury report. Both Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and Adam Schefter of ESPN are reporting that Higgins should be active in Week 14.

    “It’s gotten a lot better,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said on Friday morning. “He got some good work in today and certainly improved throughout the week, so I’m optimistic about him.”

    Higgins had to take on a larger role in Week 13 after WR Tyler Boyd was ejected earlier in the game. Boyd’s ejection came after getting into an altercation with Dolphin’s CB Xavien Howard. Higgins caught five of his seven targets for 56 yards.

    Higgins has been fantastic in his rookie season

    In 12 games, Tee Higgins has 53 receptions for 729 yards with five touchdowns in his rookie season. Only Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson has more yards among the star-studded rookie class. Tee Higgins got off to a quick start and has been an integral component of the Bengals’ passing attack. 

    Over the course of the season, Higgins has averaged seven targets per game and has seen a target on 13.6% of his routes. He has seen 18.2% of the Bengals targets, 23.8% of their receiving yards, and has 27% of the offenses air yards. 

    The loss of QB Joe Burrow has had a massive impact on Tee Higgins

    There is no question that Tee Higgins has been impressive in his rookie season. However, the change at QB has had a massive impact in recent games.

    With Joe Burrow under center, Tee Higgins was having a solid season. He was the WR23 in PPR, averaging 13.9 PPR points per game. He saw 61 targets, catching 40 for 603 yards and four touchdowns. It’s worth noting that Tee Higgins didn’t see a target in Week 1 and played on just 21% of the offensive snaps.

    Even in Week 11, where Burrow missed virtually the entire second half, Higgins saw six targets—catching three for 26 yards.

    Unfortunately, neither Ryan Finley nor Brandon Allen has done much to help Tee Higgins maintain his success. However, he hasn’t killed you either. Since the second half of Week 11, Higgins is the WR45. He has yet to go over 56 yards receiving in a game or have more than five receptions. In the last two and a half games, Higgins has seen 17 targets, catching 10 passes for 100 yards and one touchdown. Due to the hamstring injury, we won’t know until 11:30 AM ET on Sunday to know if Tee Higgins will play. 

    Tee Higgins is a low-end WR3 in Week 14 if his injury allows him to play

    I know I talked about how rough the last few weeks have been, but when looking at the matchup, you need to take it into consideration. 

    The Dallas Cowboys have been unable to stop receivers all year. They give up the eighth-most fantasy points to WRs at 40.80 PPR points per game. And they’ve allowed a league-high 2.13 PPR points per target to WRs. Dallas also placed CB Chidobe Awuzie on the NFL Reserved list even though he has missed most of the season already. In addition, rookie CB Trevon Diggs is on IR with a fractured foot, and Anthony Brown was limited Thursday with injured ribs.

    The only wonder is if the loss of first-round pick Jonah Williams will seriously impact the time to throw for Cincinnati.

    As long as his hamstring injury will allow him to play, Tee Higgins is a WR3/Flex play given the matchup. The hardest part might be trusting the Bengals’ medical staff.

    Want more fantasy football analysis and news?

    Be sure to follow us on Twitter: @PFN365 to stay up to date with all things around the NFL and the 2020 fantasy football season. Also, continue to visit Pro Football Network for NFL news and in-depth analysis while also seeing our fantasy football section for more coverage and up-to-date rankings.

    Tommy Garrett is a writer for PFN covering Fantasy Football. You can read more of his work here and follow him at @TommygarrettPFN on Twitter.

    Related Articles