Zac Taylor Updates Injuries to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins After Bengals’ Loss

Cincinnati is dealing with major injury adversity in the WR room.

Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase heads to the locker room against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Oct, 4. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Injuries are back in the spotlight this week for Cincinnati. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor met with the media on Monday afternoon after watching all the tape from yesterday. Tape that tested all of Cincinnati's pass-catching depth.

The team basically has two wide receivers healthy right now after Tee Higgins (groin) and Ja'Marr Chase (concussion) couldn't finish the 22-17 loss.

Big Injuries

Sep 27, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) celebrates with wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) after a touchdown during the second quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Taylor gave the latest update on both talents. Chase is still in concussion protocol and likely will be for most of, if not the entire week. Higgins is "day-to-day" according to Taylor. The veteran head coach left the door open for Higgins to play this week against Miami.

On the Bengals' final drive, Mike Gesicki had to start taking on outside receiver duties because Cincinnati was so undermanned at that position. Only Mitchell Tinsley and Dohnte Meyers are healthy enough to play wide receiver on the active roster.

Expect Ke'Shawn Williams to get a ton of run in practice this week, and Cincinnati may have to sign another WR off the street just to make sure they have enough healthy bodies against the Dolphins this Sunday.

Even with all the receiver injuries, Cincinnati still passed 54 times for 428 yards in a very unbalanced offense. They ran it just 15 times for 23 yards, one of the lowest rushing totals in team history.

"We don't want to rush for 23 yards. We don't want to go (just) 15 carries. That's not what we want to be about. I thought we did a good job adjusting to how we had to play the game as the game unfolded," Taylor said on Sunday. "You can call 30 runs, but when you feel like sometimes you're only going to get two yards a carry — now you're second-and-eight, third-and-seven — and that's not a fun way to play the game.

"You're not admitting defeat — that's the way the game went for us in the second half, and we had to play that style of game. It doesn't mean that next game we can't run the ball 40 times, but I'm not going to look at it and say, 'Man, we should have called 15 more runs.' If it wasn't effective and you feel it, and you feel like you've got a really good rhythm in the pass game — let's just keep attacking in the pass game, and that's where it went."

Cincinnati has Tuesday off before getting back to practice on Wednesday.

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