Cincinnati Bengals: Tee Higgins returns to practice for first time in 2 weeks

Higgins was missed the first two games, as the offense struggled in the opening loss to the Patriots and Ja’Marr Chase faced double teams without another dominant receiver to offset that.

“Tee, it’s just as simple as he’s a top player in this league,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “That makes every personnel grouping better when he’s in it. Him and Ja’Marr (Chase) are two guys that draw a lot of attention singularly. When you get them on the field together, they are good assets to have.”

Taylor said the plan is to get him into practice and see how the week goes.

Higgins warmed up with the team Thursday and was doing some light tossing along the sideline during the special teams portion to start practice, but he had his gear on and was ready to get started with individual drills as the media viewing portion ended.

If he plays Monday, the Bengals have a chance to get their first look at their starting offense together on the field in a game that counts.

“We need him,” Taylor said. “We always want him out there. I think it is just part of the game, injuries are part of the game. Whether it happens during the game, happens during the week, you don’t overreact to it. You just get guys ready and that’s the truth. You find different ways to gameplan a little bit to feature other guys.”

Defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, who underwent thumb surgery Sept. 6, and offensive tackle Amarius Mims, who has been working back from an Aug. 10 pectoral muscle strain, were both practicing Thursday as well, but veteran defensive tackles B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins did not participate.

Hill and Sheldon both injured a hamstring Sunday at Kansas City, and Taylor said there was still no update on either player. Hill was seen on the rehab field during the media viewing time.

“We’ll just keep going day to day,” Taylor said of Hill and Rankins.

The Bengals signed free agent defensive tackle Lawrence Guy on Wednesday in light of all the injuries at that position, waiving defensive end KJ Henry to make room.

A 14th-year player, Guy was released by the Patriots in February. He had spent the 2017 through 2023 seasons in New England and also had been on the active rosters of the Colts (2012-13), Chargers (2013-14) and Ravens (2014-15), and he brings the experience of 177 regular-season games (122 starts).

“Veteran in this league,” Taylor said of Guy. “I think he’s now the longest-tenured guy. That’s a weird way to say that, I guess. I watched him all summer getting ready for New England, he was on all that tape. Very familiar with him over the years. He understands what this division is all about. We’re excited to get him in the building and excited to see him go to work.”

Guy was in practice Thursday, wearing jersey No. 74.

Jenkins, who was participating for the first time since his injury, also would be a welcome addition this week with the defensive tackle room depleted. Taylor said it’s “critical” to get both Jenkins and Mims into practice to see how they handle the physicality before deeming them ready to go Monday.

Mims practiced in limited fashion all last week and likely would be looking to get some snaps behind Trent Brown if available this weekend.

“We’re just excited to get Amarius back out there practicing, playing football,” offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “All of our enthusiasm that we had for him a month ago or whatever it was prior to his injury that he’s been dealing with, it all that still exists to the exact same degree. (We) believe in him. Believe in his short-term future, believe in his long-term future, believe in the person. Believe in the player. So we’ll get him back out there. He hasn’t played football in a while so we’ll just let the process handle itself and expect him to be a contributor for us sooner than later.”