Burrow and Chase discuss Higgins’ future with the Bengals after the MNF win

For the first time since the first weekend of November, the Cincinnati Bengals are in the win column.

A Ja’Marr Chase touchdown with 61 seconds left in the game helped the Bengals snap a three-game losing streak, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 27-20. While the win didn’t save the Bengals’ season – NFL.com still gives them just a 3% chance of making the playoffs, the lowest in the AFC – it did keep the season alive.

However, it was the Bengals’ postseason plans that had players talking after the game. Specifically, what the future holds for Joe Burrow’s draft classmate Tee Higgins.

“I’m confident we can do everything we can to get Tee back,” Burrow said after the game. “I know I will do whatever it takes to get him back and so will he. We’ve had these conversations.”

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“This will be an offseason discussion, but I think we are excited about this opportunity,” Burrow continued. “You feel his presence when he’s out there. You feel how it affects the defense, you feel how it affects the defensive coordinator’s instructions. Even if he isn’t particularly productive on a night, teams have to worry about him. They feel his presence.” The defense is worried about him. And you can feel it.”

Limited production hasn’t been a major issue this season for Higgins, Cincinnati’s second-round pick in the 2020 draft. While he missed five games due to injury, the Clemson product failed to eclipse the 60-yard receiving mark just twice.

Burrow has long sided with Higgins, saying back in January: “We know what kind of player he is, we know what kind of person he is. He embodies the essence of being a Bengali.”

Burrow added that “we made sure things were OK” when he signed his then-record contract extension with the Bengals, which will keep him in stripes through the 2029 season.

Higgins’ accomplice in the receiving room says he also wants him to return beyond this season.

“I wish I could sign Tee myself and have him with me forever, but some things don’t work that way,” said Chase, who has questions of his own about him and his future in Cincinnati. “It is possible. It’s 100% possible. In this situation you have to play chess, but it is possible.”

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While Higgins was grateful that his teammates had his back – “Shoutout Joe” – he said after the game that it was still too early to know what the future holds.

“I don’t want to speak too soon,” he said in a postgame huddle.

Higgins, playing under the franchise tag this season, has totaled 581 yards and five touchdowns on 45 receptions.