Tee Higgins was simply dominant in the Cincinnati Bengals’ game at the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. After his nearly month-long injury layoff, he caught nine passes for 148 yards and a touchdown – a performance that, unfortunately, proved to be for nothing.
In the fourth quarter, the team simply collapsed despite a monstrous 21-point comeback early on. After Evan McPherson shanked two consecutive field goal attempts that would have given them their first lead since the first quarter, the Bengals defense missed multiple tackles on Chargers running back JK Dobbins, who charged his way for six with only 18 seconds left:
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Tee Higgins’ mother Camilla “Lady” Stewart was among those who were aghast at the Bengals defense’s failure to stop the play:
“Come on man”
Joe Burrow then failed on his Hail Mary attempt to confirm the defeat, leading her to react:
Tee Higgins was happy to just play vs. Chargers after injury absence
What makes Tee Higgins’ dominant performance all the more impressive is that this was his first game back from a quad injury that had sidelined him for three weeks. With the Bengals reeling at 4-6 before Sunday, he did not want to wait until after the bye week to produce and contribute.
So when he was announced to be off the injury list, he beamed. Speaking to ESPN’s Ben Baby on Friday, he said:
“I’m very excited [to] get back out there with the guys. Just sitting there watching, I hate it, you know what I’m saying? Not being able to contribute to help get a win, it sucks. So I’m very excited to go out there and fight.”
Days before the season opener against the New England Patriots, he had injured his hamstring, forcing him to miss that and the succeeding showdown at the Kansas City Chiefs. Thus, he had to reconsider how he handled his rehab, having suffered the same injury last season and missing four games as a result.
Tee Higgins said:
“I thought I was handling it the right way, and then this stuff keeps happening. So I had to go and call people and see what I need to do better or more of. I feel like I’m on the right track right now.”
He concluded:
“Hopefully all the injury stuff is behind me, I’m healthy for the rest of the season, and we can go and try to make that run that we think we can do.”
The now 4-7 Bengals next host the Steelers on December 1, needing to win to remain at least theoretically alive in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Edited by Brad Taningco