Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins return to Bengals practice ahead of Week 1

The Cincinnati Bengals are less than a week away from kicking off their 2026 NFL season at home. The Bengals are hoping for a healthy year after their 2025 campaign was derailed by an early-season injury sustained by franchise quarterback Joe Burrow. Both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have been dealing with injuries throughout training camp and the preseason, but on Monday, the team got a positive update on both members of their lethal wide receiving duo. 'All is well in Cincinnati: Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are back at practice today as the team begins prep for Tampa Bay,' reported Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer on X, formerly Twitter. Many a breath was held when Chase went down with an apparent knee injury during a joint practice session late last month, but the star ended up being just fine. Meanwhile, Higgins has been dealing with a heel issue, but it doesn't appear to be anything serious. When healthy, Chase and Higgins form arguably the best one-two punch at wide receiver in the NFL today, and they also have one of the league's top quarterbacks in Burrow delivering the football. The Bengals' defense, which was among the worst units in the NFL over the past couple of seasons, has also seemingly improved over the course of this offseason with various moves, headlined by a blockbuster trade for New York Giants star pass rusher Dexter Lawrence. Bengals fans are hoping that this is the year the stars align enough for Cincinnati to get back into the mix in the AFC after three straight years of missing the playoffs. Cincinnati will kick things off on Sunday at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This article first appeared on NFL on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.