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Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterNov 1, 2024, 01:57 PM ET
- Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
CINCINNATI — The Bengals could be without three key offensive starters for a game that will be crucial for their playoff hopes.
Wide receiver Tee Higgins and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. were both be listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders, while running back Zack Moss did not practice Friday with a neck injury, according to the game status report, and is also listed as doubtful.
Moss, who signed with the Bengals in the offseason, has split the bulk of the backfield snaps with Chase Brown, totaling 242 yards and two touchdowns.
Neither Higgins nor Brown practiced all week. Higgins has been out since he injured his quadriceps last Friday and missed the Bengals’ Week 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Brown aggravated a right knee injury that knocked him out of Week 7’s win over the Cleveland Browns.
If Brown can’t start, it will be only the second game in his seven-year career that he will miss. As a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, the four-time Pro Bowler did not face the Bengals in Week 17 of the 2021 season.
Should Higgins not be able to go, rookie Jermaine Burton could continue to see his workload increase. The third-round pick out of Alabama had a season-high 24 snaps against the Eagles.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Burton has made progress in recent weeks and is among those who could fill the void if Higgins can’t play.
“I think Jermaine has made progress to where we get more and more confident with him every week in the scheme and he’s getting more comfort with the quarterback,” Taylor told reporters.
On Thursday, Burton said he was eager to take advantage of any increase in snaps after his usage was minimal through the first seven games of the season.
“I feel like I’ve just been the same,” Burton said. “I’ve just been waiting [for] my turn, my opportunity. I just told myself whatever opportunity I get, I don’t care when it is, just make the best of it.”
If Higgins is out against the Raiders (2-6), it will be the fourth game he has missed this season. He did not play in the first two games of the year with a hamstring injury.
Higgins is playing on the one-year franchise tag and is set to become a free agent after the season. Earlier in the week, Taylor indicated the team was likely going to stand pat ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
“The team that we’ve got is the team that we’re going to continue to coach and believe in these guys,” Taylor said.
