Bengals injured starters could return against Chargers

CINCINNATI – Bengals coach Zac Taylor said left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and wide receiver Tee Higgins are “taking steps in the right direction” and showing some encouraging signs that could point to them making a return to the field this weekend.

Brown, who is nursing knee and fibula injuries, did not practice Wednesday, but Higgins was listed on the injury report as a limited participant for the first time since tweaking his quad in practice Oct. 25.

Both were involved in the team’s walkthroughs Monday and Wednesday, which Taylor said is not something they would be doing if there wasn’t a chance they might play Sunday in the Bengals’ road game against the L.A. Chargers.

“Encouraging week for both of those guys,” Taylor said. “Both guys did the walkthrough. We push our guys (that) if you have intentions to play, that’s why you do the walkthrough. We’ll go through the week and make sure where it’s at before we declare anything.”

Taylor said Friday that Brown, who had been limited in two practices last week, was “really close” to playing in Thursday’s loss at Baltimore, but the staff ultimately decided it best to hold him back another week to avoid rushing him along too quickly.

Now the Bengals might have some other injury concerns to worry about, though, as defensive end Trey Hendrickson was limited with a neck issue Wednesday and linebacker Logan Wilson was limited with a quad injury. Defensive tackle B.J. Hill, who has been banged up this season, also did not practice Wednesday as he deals with a knee injury, wide receiver Charlie Jones remains out with a groin issue and backup linebacker Joe Bachie did not participate because of a hip injury.

Quarterback Joe Burrow practiced in full, despite some soreness after Thursday’s game. He was listed on the injury report, as he has all season, because of treatment he receives on his wrist, but it also included his left biceps, which he was flexing after a hit on Thursday.

Burrow said Wednesday he was feeling better after 24 hours and is fine now.

Cincinnati will be tweaking its schedule this week with the trip to L.A., flying out Friday instead of Saturday as the team normally does for away games.

“It’ll be good team chemistry to get out there and spend some time together, and then play a 5:30 Sunday night kickoff (L.A. time), which, I don’t think I’ve ever played a 5:30 game,” Taylor said. “I’m not sure if I have or haven’t. Guys are excited for the trip. We gotta be locked in, this is a big one for us. We’ve had success doing that, but this is a different game entirely so we gotta be locked in. This is a big one for us. We’ve had success doing that, but this feels like a different game entirely. We gotta be locked in with this team traveling and make sure we put our best foot forward.””

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