‘He’s a big-time player’: Former Clemson star shines in NFL Week 12

Former Clemson star Tee Higgins shined last Sunday, showing out in what was his best game of the 2021 NFL season to this point. The Cincinnati Bengals second-year wide receiver recorded six catches for 114 yards and a touchdown in the Bengals’ 41-10 …

Former Clemson star Tee Higgins shined last Sunday, showing out in what was his best game of the 2021 NFL season to this point.

The Cincinnati Bengals second-year wide receiver recorded six catches for 114 yards and a touchdown in the Bengals’ 41-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Week 12 matchup at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

Higgins did his best Randy Moss impersonation with his 32-yard touchdown reception from Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the second quarter, when Higgins made a Moss-like grab over Steelers cornerback James Pierre.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor met with the media after the game and spoke about Higgins’ big play and how having weapons like him helps their offense when opposing defenses try to focus their efforts on containing star rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase.

“Awesome. Awesome,” Taylor said of Higgins’ highlight-reel reception. “And when the question keeps getting asked to me about what are people doing to take away Ja’Marr, that’s not an issue for us because we’ve got Tee on the other side, we’ve got TB (Tyler Boyd) in the middle. So, that’s never really been a concern because we feel like we’ve got so many weapons that we trust and can make those types of plays.

“And on that particular example, Minkah (Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick) leaned to Ja’Marr, and so Tee had the one-on-one and he needed to go make the play and he did. That was just an awesome moment for Tee and great throw by Joe and we really needed that.”

Burrow told reporters that he wasn’t surprised at all by Higgins’ spectacular snag.

“I knew exactly what was going to happen,” Burrow said. “We had talked about that all week. I was going to give him shots down the field, and it was great to see Tee make that play. He’s a big-time player for us.”

Higgins has tallied 43 receptions for 560 yards and three touchdowns in nine games played this season. As a rookie last season, the No. 33 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and former All-ACC player at Clemson posted 67 catches for 908 yards and six scores.

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