Bengals receiver Tee Higgins off to career-best start despite abductor injury
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The gist
Bengals receiver Tee Higgins has 423 yards in five games, his best start, but sat out Wednesday practice with an abductor injury.
He faces Baltimore next, where he has rarely finished a game.
Background
Tee Higgins is a Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver in his sixth season with the team. Through five games he has 27 catches for 423 yards, 12th in the NFL and the best opening stretch of his career, putting him on pace for 1,438 yards as he chases a third 1,000-yard season and his first since 2022. He is trending because that production has come while fellow All-Pro receiver Ja'Marr Chase sits in concussion protocol with 289 yards, and because Higgins is now managing an abductor injury ahead of a trip to Baltimore.
How it unfolded
- Oct 4, 2026Higgins caught 11 passes for 157 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars; Ja'Marr Chase left in the first half with a concussion and Higgins injured his groin on a 21-yard catch but returned.
- Oct 11, 2026Higgins played limited snaps and had two catches for 22 yards in the Bengals' 31-24 win over the Miami Dolphins after being cleared despite injuries in practice.
- Oct 21, 2026A report said Higgins' numbers were better than Ja'Marr Chase's after five weeks.
- Oct 22, 2026Higgins (abductor) did not practice Wednesday and was on the sidelines; Chase remained in concussion protocol. After Thursday's practice Higgins said Chase is "going to get it going."
- Oct 25, 2026The Bengals play at Baltimore, where Higgins would be in line for his first complete game, or more than 10 snaps, since the 2021 season.
Who’s saying what
- Coach
- Bengals wide receivers coach Troy Walters said Higgins "played like a No. 1 guy" and that "even a Tee at 80% is better than half of the guys in this league."
- Player
- Higgins said a 1,000-yard season is "one of my main goals" but that "the main goal is getting wins for this team," and that he is "just running the routes I'm told to run."
- Analysts
- A fantasy outlook piece said Higgins should be productive in Baltimore, while another report argued he isn't getting the credit he deserves this season.