CINCINNATI — Zac Taylor couldn’t be happier with Tee Higgins.
A receiver who enters his final year of a contract and doesn’t get an extension from the team despite doing everything in his power to help the team over his first four years can be a recipe for disaster.
The NFL is littered with teams over recent years that have been derailed by receivers who don’t get the ball enough heading into their walk year. They feel the pressure to perform and coaches sometimes make the mistake of trying to please the player and put his best interests before those of the team.
That has not been the case with Tee Higgins and the Bengals in 2024. And given the way the season started, there was no certainty that it was going to remain quiet.
But then again, this is Tee Higgins. He wears a smile when things are going well and is quiet when things aren’t.
“I can only speak to him and he’s shown us no signs of a guy being in that position,” Zac Taylor said of Higgins position in his final year of his rookie deal. “He’s out here playing football and doing a good elevating his teammates. When his number is called he steps up and does a great job communicating. You like being around him. You can’t ask for a better player on our team.”
Make no mistake, Higgins is making good coin this year, signing his franchise tender of $21.8 million on June 14, the day after minicamp ended. It’s just that he thought there might have been hope for an extension after last season ended.
But aside from Higgins making the totally understandable business decision of staying away from OTAs and spring practice, the fifth-year pro has been nothing short of professional.
He’s even had to handle the frustration of straining his hamstring the Thursday before the season opener, which greatly hamstrung the offense against the Patriots and Chiefs. In the five weeks since, Higgins has caught 29 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns.
Taylor’s praise of Higgins this week has been glowing – and for good reason. The Bengals are a vastly different and more explosive offense with him on the field with Ja’Marr Chase. Higgins has not pouted once during his final contract year. He’s talked about the disappointment but never has taken outward shots at management. That’s not his style and it was apparent from well before training camp that he wanted to just go out and play.
“It’s conversations all spring,” Taylor said. “This guy has always been about the right stuff. We always know we can count on Tee. He’s shown that every single day he’s been in the building. He has been the same guy, same attitude. He’s just a winner and trying to do everything he can to move this offense forward. When he gets his opportunities he makes the most of it.”
Reminded that the Bengals passing attack has been heavily Chase and Higgins-centric in the last three weeks, Taylor quipped, “You got a problem with that?”
Adding, “The truth is it’s always we’re going to get the ball to whoever is open. Sometimes when you’re in a game like that you get a little more man coverage, so you’re trying to find more ways to get Tee and Ja’Marr, they’re you’re best players, so you’re trying to find ways get them some one-on-ones and get them the ball to get us a spark. There’s plenty of plays in our playbook, and as you all know there’s always opportunities for another guy to have 5-10 catches in a game.
“That’s just the way it can go. The last two weeks the way it has shaken out hasn’t been that way. We’ll just continue to scheme it up every week to where whoever is open is going to get the ball and Joe is going to do a good job finding them, but there’s going to be some times where we’re going to find ways to get Tee and Ja’Marr the ball, and make sure that they get it.”
Joe + Tee = TD.
📺: #CINvsCLE on CBSpic.twitter.com/lZHF4qXmJj
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 20, 2024
Taylor and Joe Burrow both know that when the passing game is throttled down and stalled, the ball has to find its way into their hands.
“If we’re stalling a little bit, who is going to give us a spark? Generally those two guys are going to get it. We threw Ja’Marr a bubble (vs. Cleveland) that we got eight yards on when pretty much everybody else in the league is going to get zero yards,” Taylor said. “He made the first guy miss and then carried another six guys another seven yards. Sometimes that is a spark. The whole sideline feels that, the whole offense feels that, so shame on us if we’re not finding more ways to get them touches.”
Higgins has shown up big in clutch moments time and time again in the five weeks he’s returned. Last week was no different. Leading 14-6 and looking for a knockout blow, Burrow found Higgins on third-and-4 from the Browns 25 on a deep in route. Burrow made the perfect throw and Higgins sensed there was no one behind him and turned and headed upfield for the TD that – for all intents and purposes – put the game on ice.
“Third and four (and) we’ve got man coverage. Joe just recognized the matchup, got the ball out quickly and he was able to – the thing I think you saw was what Tee has is tremendous confidence in his hands,” offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “Guys that are confident in their hands can accelerate through the catch. Some guys that don’t have confidence in their hands, they slow down to catch the ball and then try to speed back up. When you can accelerate through the catch that allows you to carry momentum and run through contact on your lower body. The defender didn’t take a very good angle, he tries to make an arm tackle and that’s all it took.”
One play. One touchdown and one shining example of what makes Higgins so valuable to this offense.
“He’s kind of been that guy his whole career here,” Pitcher added. “Go all the way back to the Super Bowl run. I don’t think we get there without Tee. He’s kind of maintained that throughout. We have total trust in him. It’s his approach. Its his demeanor in big moments. Never too big for him. That’s just who he has been.”
