Tee Higgins

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is "making good progress" in his recovery from a hamstring injury, head coach Zac Taylor told reporters on Wednesday.

Higgins is now day-to-day after being listed as inactive for Sunday's season-opening loss to the New England Patriots.

Taylor did not provide any updates on when Higgins would return to practice, per WLWT's Charlie Clifford. He did not participate in practice on Wednesday, per The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr.

Taylor told reporters last Friday that Higgins had tweaked his hamstring during practice the day prior, per ESPN's Ben Baby.

Higgins was subsequently listed as "doubtful" on the Bengals' Friday injury report before ultimately being designated inactive on the final injury report prior to the game.

ESPN's Adam Schefter said Monday on the Pat McAfee Show that he would be "surprised" if Higgins were to return in time to face the Chiefs on Sunday.

The injury is particularly concerning for the Bengals given Higgins' history of hamstring issues. The wideout missed three games with a hamstring injury suffered in practice during the latter half of the 2023 season, then was sidelined again by his hamstring during the regular season finale.

Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who was also questionable heading into Sunday's season opener amid a contract dispute and a reported illness, ended up playing against the Patriots.

He and second-year wideout Andrei Iosivas split targets evenly in Higgins' absence, with Chase making six catches for 62 yards while Iosivas hauled in three for 26 yards.

If Higgins is unable to play against the Chiefs, the Bengals will likely continue leaning on Iosivas and on Chase. But with Chase still working his way back into the mix after missing training camp amidst his ongoing campaign for a new deal and with Iosivas' prior experience limited to two NFL starts, Cincinnati will hope Higgins can return as soon as possible.

The Cincinnati Bengals could potentially be playing without their top two wide receivers on Sunday.

In the Bengals' Friday injury report, Ja'Marr Chase was listed as questionable for Cincinnati's season-opener amid his ongoing contract standoff. Tee Higgins was also doubtful with a hamstring issue.

Chase is currently searching for a long-term contract extension and has been holding in throughout training camp. He told reporters on Friday that his Week 1 status will come down to a game-time decision and he would be limited if he ended up playing.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor revealed that Higgins "tweaked" his hamstring during practice on Thursday and was noncommittal about his availability on Sunday, per ESPN's Ben Baby.

"We'll see," Taylor said.

Higgins has been hampered by the same issue in the past, missing three games during his 2023 campaign due to a hamstring injury that he sustained in practice.

As for Chase, his contract status will play a large role in his Week 1 participation. He's ramped up his activity leading up to the team's first matchup against the New England Patriots. Chase was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday and Thursday before fully participating in Friday's walkthrough.

An extension agreement before Week 1 still seems to be possible, as the three-time Pro Bowl wideout said that a new contract is in reach on Friday (via Geoff Hobson of the team's official website).

If Chase and Higgins are both unable to play, Andrei Iosivas and Trenton Irwin should have expanded roles in the offense surrounding Joe Burrow. Jermaine Burton, Cincinnati's third-round pick in the 2024 draft, could also see some action.

The status of the Bengals' top wide receiver duo will become more clear as the team's upcoming contest gets closer and Chase's contract status comes to a conclusion.

Cincinnati will begin its regular season against New England on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson gave his thoughts on the future of Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

The former Bengals star predicted a new contract for Chase and Higgins' eventual departure in free agency during a Saturday appearance on The Adam Schefter Podcast.

"Ja'Marr's deal will get done probably sometime this week," he said. "Definitely before the season starts, absolutely."

He added that Chase isn't "touching the field" if a new contract agreement isn't reached before the regular season begins.

The six-time Pro Bowl receiver also expects Higgins to leave in 2025 after playing on a franchise tag.

"Well Tee, I think Tee's going to play obviously on the franchise tag this year," Johnson said. "He'll be going somewhere else and he'll get what's deserving of him: Being paid like a number one receiver."

Higgins is playing on the $21.8 million franchise tag in 2024 before he's slated to hit free agency next offseason. The 25-year-old initially requested a trade in March due to a lack of long-term extension negotiations, but he eventually announced he would stay with the team and play on the tag.

As for Chase, he's still under contract through the 2025 season although he's eligible for a long-term deal of his own. ESPN's Adam Schefter previously reported that there hasn't been much "conversation" between the Bengals and the 2021 Offensive Rookie of the Year, but Johnson appears to be optimistic about a new extension agreement.

In order to prove him right, Cincinnati will need to sign Chase before the team's regular-season opener against the New England Patriots on Sept. 8.

The Cincinnati Bengals showed off massive upgrades to their locker room after it graded out as one of the worst facilities in the NFL earlier this year.

ESPN's Adam Schefter posted photos of the renovated locker room on X, noting that it boasts several new and improved features, including "upgraded lockers and restroom facilities, circadian rhythm lighting that can sync to music from the new sound system, and increased Wi-Fi for better connectivity."

The Bengals also posted video of quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Tee Higgins seeing and enjoying the improvements for the first time:

Per Schefter, Burrow praised the organization's efforts, saying: "It's sick. The more we continue to invest in stuff like this, the more comfortable the players are going to be. We're going to love coming into work. I'm really happy with it. It's quite an upgrade. Credit to ownership for putting this all together."

Back in February, the NFL Players Association polled players from every team and had them assign grades to specific aspects of their teams. The Bengals' locker room was given a D+, which was 24th in the league.

In addition to the low locker room grade, the Bengals got an F- in treatment of families, food/cafeteria and nutritionist/dietician. Their overall grade placed them 26th out of the 32 NFL teams.

While certain aspects of the organization have needed some work, the Bengals' on-field product has been quite good in recent years.

In 2020 and 2021, Cincinnati reached the AFC Championship Game in back-to-back seasons. That included reaching the Super Bowl in 2020 where it fell just short of winning a championship against the Los Angeles Rams.

Over the course of those two seasons, Burrow established himself as one of the NFL's top quarterbacks, and he earned a five-year, $275 million contract extension.

Expectations were high for Burrow and the Bengals again last season, but a wrist injury limited the superstar signal-caller to just 10 games.

Backup Jake Browning performed admirably in Burrow's absence, but the Bengals narrowly missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record.

With Burrow back healthy for the 2024 season, the Bengals are once again viewed as one of the top contenders to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.