Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins reportedly dealing with serious rib injury, could miss multiple games

The Cincinnati Bengals are already facing a 1-3 hole in the NFL standings with one of the worst offenses in the NFL. Heading into Week 5, things might be on the verge of getting even worse for Cincinnati moving forward thanks to the Tee Higgins injury.

Things looked promising early on Sunday for the Bengals’ offense. On the game-opening drive, Cincinnati covered 72 yards and kicked a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead. It was exactly the kind of fast start the coaching staff and Joe Burrow were hoping for in Week 4.

Cincinnati was shut out the rest of the game, managing just 139 total yards on their final eight drives. Three-and-outs became a recurring theme for the Bengals’ offense on Sunday, going 1-for-8 on third-down attempts outside of their opening drive.

Making things worse for Cincinnati, Higgins left Week 4 with a rib injury and the team ruled him out for the remainder of the game a short time later. While the Bengals are expected to make an official announcement later this week, the early prognosis isn’t promising.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Higgins suffered a rib fracture on Sunday. With a bye in Week 7, there is some belief that Cincinnati will keep Higgins off the field for the next few weeks before clearing him to return on Oct. 29.

If Higgins is sidelined for any length of time, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd still step into the No. 2 role for this offense. He could be vital to Cincinnati considering what has happened to this offense in 2023.

Through the first four games of the season, the Bengals’ offensive line has struggled in pass protection. In its first four contests, Cincinnati allowed eight sacks and 19 QB hits. With Burrow’s calf injury severely limiting his movement in the pocket, the Bengals’ passing attack has been one of the worst in the NFL.

Typically, Cincinnati would air it out more aggressively with a healthy Burrow. In 2022, 9 percent of Burrow’s pass attempts went 20-plus yards downfield and 22.1 percent of his attempts were in the intermedia areas (11-19 yards) last season, per Pro Football Focus.

Through four games, Burrow is averaging career lows in yards per attempt and deep-throw rate. He doesn’t have the ability to buy time with his legs and with the Bengals’ offensive line often struggling to hold up, attacking teams vertically isn’t an option.

Purely from a fantasy football perspective, this benefits Tyler Boyd. He primarily works underneath, ranking 97th in average target distance (4.7 yards) and has played the fourth-most slot snaps in the NFL this season. With Burrow needing to get rid of the football quickly, Boyd should be very involved moving forward.

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After 40 years covering this game, I’ve come to realize how maddeningly interesting and capricious it is. Take Cincinnati-San Francisco in California Sunday. The game turned on a shake of the shoulder by one of the great players today, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who’s spent the last three games reaffirming his greatness.

Reaffirming is right, because Burrow spent the first month of the season as a liability, not a cornerstone. And on a knock-down, drag-out afternoon, with Joe Montana and old 49er friends celebrating Super Bowls past from a box upstairs, Burrow did something with 13 minutes left that Joe Cool would have done. The great ones make plays like this almost without thinking. That’s part of their brilliance.

Cincinnati was up, 17-10, and trying to put the game away after a Brock Purdy interception gave the Bengals the ball at the Niners’ 17. On first down, Ja’Marr Chase lined up split right with Tyler Boyd a step behind him and just to the right. At the snap, Burrow’s eyes bore a hole through Boyd, just the way coach and play-caller Zac Taylor designed it.

“Just trying to sell the perimeter screen,” Burrow said nonchalantly (does he ever speak in any other tone?) over the phone, an hour after the game.

And as Boyd took a step back, like he was about to catch a laser from Burrow, the QB almost imperceptibly began his throwing motion to Boyd, with corner Charvarius Ward moving forward to shadow the WR. “Yeah,” Burrow said, “I gave a little pump fake.” Very little. Still, the shoulder tic looked like it froze the corner covering Chase, Isaiah Oliver, for a split second while Chase zoomed toward the right corner of the end zone. Burrow lofted a strike to Chase, who must have found it odd to not be skin-to-skin with a corner in the end zone. He caught it unchallenged. Ballgame.

“What was cool,” Burrow said, “is it happened exactly how we practiced it. Our guys did a great job of selling it. It’s no secret we like to throw those kinds of routes to Ja’Marr—it’s a big part of what we do. In that situation, a great call by Zac.”

In that situation, great execution by Burrow. He’s just so confident, so unshakeable. Now that Burrow’s achy calf muscle that erased training camp and made him ineffective for the Bengals’ toothless 1-3 start has faded—faded is right, because it’s not altogether gone—Cincinnati should be serious contenders again. The 31-17 win Sunday and Burrow’s brilliant show (28 of 32, 87.5-percent accuracy, three TDs, no picks) gave him a 111.8 rating in the team’s three-game winning streak.

“It’s tough,” Burrow said, “when you have an injury and you’re playing through it. You obviously can’t do some things that normally you can. But we got through it. We got through it healthy and we’re on the other side now, it feels like. My strength is still coming along. In the offseason, I worked the most on athleticism and explosiveness and so it was tough to not be able to show that over the first couple weeks. I was able to show that today and it’s nice seeing hard work pay off.”

Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, all 4-3, trail 6-2 Baltimore in the AFC North, approaching midseason. Burrow’s return to health could be the decisive factor in who wins the division. “We’re exactly where we need to be,” Burrow said. “And we’re going to keep getting better.” After watching him shred the Niners, it’s hard to doubt him.