Bengals’ Tee Higgins ready to play, all smiles after 3 weeks out

CINCINNATI — Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins flashed a big smile at his locker before the team took off for Los Angeles.

After three weeks out with a quadriceps injury, Higgins is expected to play Sunday against the Chargers, coach Zac Taylor said after Friday’s practice.

And no one is looking forward to it more than Higgins.

“I’m very excited [to] get back out there with the guys,” Higgins told ESPN in his first interview since suffering the injury. “Just sitting there watching, I hate it, you know what I’m saying? Not being able to contribute to help achieve a victory, it sucks. “So I’m really excited to go out there and fight.”

Higgins has participated on a limited basis in practice this week, but does not have an injury designation for Sunday’s game. During the portion of Friday’s practice open to the media, Higgins was in uniform and wearing a helmet, but did agility and conditioning drills.

“Everything you saw in practice with him rehabbing, doing individual things, was everything we coordinated all week to make sure he was in a great place,” Taylor said. “And right now, we’re in a great situation.”

Additionally, Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson is expected to play on Sunday despite missing practice on Friday. Hendrickson, who leads the NFL with 11 sacks this season, will travel separately to Los Angeles on Saturday for personal reasons.

Higgins suffered his injury in practice on Oct. 25, two days before the Bengals’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The injury continued over the next few weeks, he said.

“I was still feeling it,” Higgins said. “But this week I felt amazing and I’m ready to go.”

The fifth-year wide receiver has had to battle soft tissue injuries throughout his career. This season, he suffered a hamstring injury days before Week 1 and missed the first two games. He also missed four games in 2023 due to a hamstring injury.

Higgins indicated that he has made inquiries to prevent those injuries from occurring in the future.

“I thought I was handling it the right way, and then these things keep happening,” Higgins told ESPN. “So I had to go and call people and see what I needed to do better or more. I feel like I’m on the right path right now.”

Before suffering the quadriceps injury, Higgins was praised by coaches and teammates for performing at the highest level of his career. Higgins, who is playing under the franchise tag, averaged 80.7 yards per game in the three games prior to the injury and played a key role in consecutive victories over the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns.

Taylor said that despite the extended absence, the team is confident Higgins can handle a significant workload in a game Cincinnati (4-6) knows it needs to win to bolster its playoff prospects.

Higgins said the hardest part about not playing has been the losses Cincinnati has suffered during his absence. The Bengals lost two of the three games he missed.

Before the team left for Los Angeles on Friday afternoon, Higgins told ESPN that he hopes the best for him this year is yet to come.

“Hopefully all the injuries are behind us, I’m healthy for the rest of the season and we can try to make that run that we think we can make,” Higgins said.

In other injury news, Bengals offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. is questionable with a lower leg injury. Linebacker Logan Wilson (quadriceps) and defensive tackle BJ Hill (knee, questionable) are expected to play against the Chargers.