For Cincinnati Bengals fans, the slow start to the season by wide receiver Tee Higgins might give off a sense of deja vu.
Higgins’ numbers don’t look bad at face value over three games, as he has 10 catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
Buy Bengals TicketsBut take out a huge Week 2 showing against the Ravens and over the other two games, he caught just two of 16 targets for 21 yards. He caught none of his eight targets in Week 1 and in Week 3 last Monday night, he caught two of his eight targets but had multiple big drops, at one point going to the locker room before coming back out and getting on the field again.
The sense of deja vu for fans might come from how it mirrors the Jessie Bates situation from last year. Bates, playing on the last year of his contract before free agency, had some well-publicized struggles, to the point he admitted that contract situation had a role in his erratic play.
There’s no word if that’s what is going on here with Higgins, but he even shares the same agent as Bates, so it’s a link outsiders will make for multiple reasons.
While Higgins had primetime struggles in Week 3, Ja’Marr Chase popped off for 141 yards on 12 catches, so one is certainly capable of carrying the burden for the other.
Either way, it’s hard to imagine the Higgins slump continues the entire season, especially if Joe Burrow continues to get healthier while he plays through injury.
