Why Bengals WR Tee Higgins Said It "Looks" Like Joe Burrow is Playing Sunday Against New England

CINCINNATI – Tee Higgins asked. Joe Burrow didn’t exactly answer.

Or did he?

The Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver has the same question on his mind as everyone else:

Is Burrow going to play Sunday against the New England Patriots?

“I asked him, and he looked at me like this,” Higgins said while giving a raised chin, side-eye stare.

Joe Burrow was a FULL participant in practice for a second-straight day. pic.twitter.com/GpTFw9I7UM
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) November 20, 2025

“I don’t know what that meant,” Higgins added. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but I assume good.”

If Higgins is basing it not just on a single look, but the way Burrow has looked in practice, he said he likes the chances of Burrow starting Sunday.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said. “Joe's been looking outstanding. I mean, he's slinging it deep, short routes. Every day has been pretty good.

"If he's ready, I'm ready," Higgins added.

When the Bengals surprisingly cleared Burrow to practice Nov. 11, it created a buzz.

His taking first-team reps and being listed as a full participant the last two days have produced a tremor big enough to move the betting line by 2.5 points.

The Bengals aren’t expected to officially announce who is starting, but if the team activates Burrow from Injured Reserve before Saturday at 4 p.m., that would be the transactional version of the look Burrow gave Higgins.

Center Ted Karras tried to play coy when asked about Burrow.

Then it was pointed out that it was Burrow taking the quarterback-center exchanges from Karras and Joe Flacco working with backup center Lucas Patrick.

“You guys can jump to whatever (conclusions) you want to jump to,” Karras told a handful of reporters at his locker.

Karras was asked if he was studying Burrow for a different, go-time type of look.

“I look every QB directly in their eyes, every time. Especially when they're calling the play,” he said. “I see a lot of fire in his and always have. It's good to see those blues in the huddle again.”

Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. said he doesn’t have a feel for what’s going to happen Sunday, but echoed what all of his teammates have said about how Burrow has looked while taking first-team reps.

“He’s been good when he’s been in there,” Brown said. I don’t know if he’ll play, though.”

Burrow has come back quicker than expected from every injury he’s had to endure in his career, but those have always involved getting ready for the start of the season when the team is 0-0.

With the Bengals sitting 3-7 and having a 2 percent chance of making the playoffs, Burrow’s fight to get back on the field has caused Brown’s already high level of respect and admiration for Burrow soar even more.

“The record doesn't matter to him,” Brown said. “He loves football, he loves competing and he wants to be out there with the boys.

“He's not one to tap out. That's why we love him. That's why we respect him. That's what I love suiting up for him,” he continued. “He's got all the intangibles and everything you want in a quarterback.”

Playing Sunday – or even next Thursday in Baltimore – would blow away the original projection of mid-December coming off turf-toe surgery Sept. 19, taking a three-month recovery down to two months.

“Joe Burrow is an all-time football freak,” Karras said. “I wouldn't put anything past him. I think this is just another one of these amazing feats that he's gonna have to do to overcome some of the things that have happened early on in his career.

“It's going to be an amazing journey, and he's going to be a guy that's hopefully winning us multiple championships and plays for 20 years,” Karras added. “This is gonna be one chapter in it.”