Tee Higgins injury update: Latest on Bengals WR for Fantasy Football Week 12

Tee Higgins is having a frustrating 2023 fantasy football season, as his production has been highly inconsistent. He has finished among the top eight wide receivers in PPR leagues twice this year but has also ranked WR78 or worse in four other weeks. He has also missed three games due to various injuries, complicating his fantasy value this season.

In the past two games for the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2023 NFL season, Higgins has been unable to play as he continues to recover from a lingering hamstring injury. This same issue has officially put his Week 12 status in jeopardy as well after failing to return to practice this week.

Tee Higgins injury update

Tee Higgins

The Cincinnati Bengals' last game came on Thursday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens last week. The early game of the week gave Tee Higgins, who was inactive with a hamstring injury, additional time to rest and recover before their Week 12 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Apparently, that wasn't enough for him to overcome the ailment.

According to Ben Baby via his personal X (formerly Twitter) account:

"Tee Higgins will be out for Sunday’s game, Zac Taylor said."

The report came during Friday's practice session, where Higgins was once again unable to participate. Rather than listing him as questionable on the official injury report, head coach Zac Taylor has already decided that his star wide receiver will be unavailable in Week 12. This is bad news for the Bengals ahead of their important clash with the Steelers in the NFL Playoff Picture.

What happened to Tee Higgins?

Tee Higgins suffered a hamstring injury during practice on Nov. 8. He also missed the Week 5 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals due to a fractured rib.

In a Week 9 contest against the Buffalo Bills, the WR put together one of his best games of the year. He set season-highs with eight receptions and 110 yards.

Since his season-best performance against the Bills, Higgins has been unable to return to being a full participant at any of the Bengals' practices over the past three weeks. This resulted in him missing each of their past two games, both of which they lost after defeating the Bills in his last game played. Unfortunately for the Bengals, they will be without their star wide receiver again in Week 12 as their postseason chances continue to decrease.

When will Tee Higgins return?

The Bengals have yet to release an official timeline of when they believe that Higgins will be able to get back onto the field. The somewhat encouraging news is that they have declined to place him on the injured reserve list, so they presumably don't see his hamstring injury as a long-term issue.

Being placed on the IR requires a minimum four-game absence but would allow the Bengals to replace him on their roster. With him already being ruled out for Week 12, Higgins will miss three games. It appears that the Bengals are hoping he can return in less time than the four-game minimum would have been, but his availability for Week 13 should be considered questionable, at best.