Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Tee Higgins is dealing with an injury.
The constantly banged-up Cincinnati Bengals receiver is nursing a leg injury ahead of Thursday night’s pivotal AFC North matchup with the Baltimore Ravens. Let’s go over everything we know about Higgins’ injury, including his chances of suiting up for the Week 10 game at M&T Bank Stadium.
What Is Tee Higgins’ Injury?
Higgins sat out the first two games of the season due to a hamstring injury. He then appeared in five consecutive games before a Week 7 quadricep injury forced him to miss the last two contests.
In his five games, Higgins posted 29 catches for 431 yards and three touchdowns, good for averages of 5.8 catches, 68.2 yards, and 0.6 TDs per contest. The receptions average would represent a career-high, whereas the yardage average would rank as the second-best of his career.
Higgins hasn’t been placed on injured reserve, so his quad issue isn’t considered serious. However, the ailment could still force him to miss Thursday’s game in Baltimore.
Is Higgins Playing in Week 10?
As of Wednesday morning, the odds were against Higgins playing against the Ravens.
By the afternoon, the Bengals officially released their final injury report with more bad news for the wide receiver. Higgins did not practice again on Thursday and was officially declared doubtful for the key, primetime divisional battle.
The 25-year-old receiver was listed as a non-participant in Tuesday’s practice. His absence came a day after Bengals head coach Zac Taylor offered a vague answer to a question about the statuses of Higgins and running back Chase Brown (rib injury).
“We’ll see,” Taylor told reporters. “We are limited with our field work, but both those guys have the right attitude about it. Step one is they both want to do it, and now we’ll put them through everything we can in the next couple of days to see where they can help us.”
WR Tee Higgins was listed as a non-participant in tonight’s practice.
He was in tennis shoes (sneakers, for those who don’t say tennis shoes).
However, he was wearing a practice jersey, and tossing around a bit.#Bengals @WCPO pic.twitter.com/wEk4RWEQLk
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) November 6, 2024
With a doubtful designation, it’s hard to envision Higgins playing Thursday night without practicing all week. It would be a pivotal loss for a Bengals team that sits at 4-5 and needs to start stacking wins in order to keep its playoff path alive.
Now, let’s look at how Higgins’ potential absence could impact Cincinnati’s offense.
How Might Higgins’ Absence Impact Bengals If He’s Ruled Out?
Obviously, the Bengals’ offense is significantly more dangerous when Higgins is on the field.
Over the first nine weeks, Cincinnati averaged 28.6 points per game when Higgins played but just 23.25 points (including a 41-point effort in Week 9) in his absences. For the season, the Bengals own the eighth-highest Pro Football Network Offense+ metric grade (B-).
The presence of Higgins also makes life easier for superstar receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
In four games without Higgins, Chase averaged 48.5 yards per contest; he averaged 104.6 yards with Higgins on the field.
The 4-5 Bengals have more than enough talent to go on a second-half run and perform like the Super Bowl contenders many expected them to be. But without Higgins, the offense could struggle to make up for a bad defense that ranks 28th in PFN’s Defense+ metric.