Bengals WR situation goes from bad to worse with another injury

2023-11-09 09:16

With the Bengals finally in a groove and on a three game win streak, injury luck continues to be one of their toughest 2023 battles.

The Cincinnati Bengals started 1-3 this year, starting slow for a team that has won the AFC North two years in a row and made the Super Bowl two years ago. Since that slow start, Joe Burrow has led the team to four straight wins, with notable wins over the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, and most recently, the Buffalo Bills.

The Bengals are showing signs of the dominant offensive attack the NFL has been scared of for the past two years. Now, heading into week 10, we might see the only thing that can slow down the Bengal's offense.

Following the Bengals' narrow win of 24-18 against the Buffalo Bills, the Bengals still remain fourth in the AFC North, after two key divisional losses to start this year. Each team in the division now has at least 5 wins, led by the Baltimore Ravens with seven wins.

Ja'Marr Chase joined by another receiver on the injury report ahead of Week 10

After Sunday night's game, we learned receiver Ja'Marr Chase has been dealing with a back injury. This is perceived to be a routine injury, with him only expected to miss one game or play at less than 100 percent, in which he would still be a threat.

Chase did not practice on Wednesday. "I'm just going to support my teammates," Chase told reporters, maybe giving a hint to his status.

But on Wednesday, the team's regularly scheduled injury report revealed even worse news. Fellow star receiver Tee Higgins was a limited participant in practice due to a hamstring injury. It is unclear if he sustained this injury in this past week's game or just a setback in practice. Higgins, who hasn't produced the same stats this year compared to previous years, is still someone to be worried about. He flexed his game-changing potential against the Bills in Week 9 with 110 yards of receiving, catching eight of his nine targets.

The Bengals take on the red-hot Houston Texans, coming off a 39-37 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday at 1:00 Eastern time. If both Bengals receivers cannot play, or they are without one of them, it may prove difficult to improve their win streak to five.