Bengals WR Tee Higgins clears protocol, set to face Bills

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins cleared concussion protocol and will be available to play on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y., head coach Zac Taylor announced Friday.

Higgins was injured when his head landed hard on the turf in Cincinnati's 26-20 loss to the visiting New England Patriots on Nov. 23. He was motionless for several minutes before eventually being carted to the locker room with 4:45 left in the game.

"It's been a minute, man," Higgins said of his return to the field. "I'm definitely looking forward to (playing on Sunday). It's going to be great."

Higgins was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday before turning in a full level of participation in Thursday's and Friday's sessions.

"It was just getting through concussion protocol, seeing how I'm feeling with working out, running routes and things like that," Higgins said. "So it's basically all just on me, see how I'm feeling and then passing those tests as well."

The Bengals (4-8) reside two games in back of the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6) and Baltimore Ravens (6-6) in the AFC North. The latter two teams play each other in Baltimore on Sunday.

Higgins, 26, has 40 catches for 575 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games (all starts) this season.

Cincinnati selected Higgins in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He has 370 receptions for 5,170 yards and 41 TDs in 81 career games (73 starts).

--Field Level Media