AFC Notes: Tee Higgins, Kareem Hunt, Bengals, Browns, Ravens

Bengals

Bengals WR Tee Higgins is set to hit free agency with a huge payday that many wonder if Cincinnati can afford. Bengals QB Joe Burrow seemed optimistic when asked about their chances of bringing Higgins back.

“We don’t know; those discussions are ongoing,” Burrow said, via Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. “I am confident we are going to be able to do what it takes to bring Tee back — that I’m going to do what it takes to get him back and so is he. We’ve had those talks. Those are going to be offseason discussions, but I think we are excited about that opportunity.”

Cincinnati WR Ja’Marr Chase also believes it’s possible to bring Higgins back despite him and Burrow on large deals already.

“It’s possible,” Chase said. “It’s 100 percent possible. Got to play chess in that situation, but it’s possible.”

Browns

• Browns HC Kevin Stefanski said WR Cedric Tillman practiced on Wednesday but remains in the league’s concussion protocol, via Chris Easterling. 
• The Browns worked out eight players this week, including WR Kaden Davis, K Josh Gable, WR Jaelen Gill, WR Tre’Shaun Harrison, K Greg Joseph, WR Joseph Ngata, K Riley Patterson, and K Andre Szmyt, per Aaron Wilson. 
• Of this group, Cleveland signed Davis, Gill, and Patterson to their practice squad. 
• Regarding Patterson, Stefanski said Dustin Hopkins is still their starter but they will finalize any decision this week: “Dustin (Hopkins) is our kicker but we’ll work through all of that this week.” (Mary Kay Cabot)
• Cleveland is set to face the Chiefs in Week 15, which will pit them against RB Kareem Hunt. When asked why Hunt didn’t re-sign with the Browns, Stefanski responded: “He’s a person and a player that I have a ton of respect for. He’s elite in short-yardage. He’s elite in the screen game. He runs hard. There’s always roster decisions that are made for a variety of reasons.” (Tony Grossi)

Ravens 

Entering Week 15 with an 8-5 record, Ravens HC John Harbaugh said the team’s season “begins now” as it ramps up for the playoffs. 

“This is the season; it kind of begins now,” Harbaugh said, via Clifton Brown of the team’s site. “The season is important to determine the important outcomes for the rest of the way – that’s what we’re focused on. We’ll be focusing on this game, putting everything we’ve got into it, and then we’ll go from there.”

Ravens WR Zay Flowers thinks their Week 14 bye came at the “perfect time” given it allowed players to rest and recover ahead of the home stretch. 

“I feel like it came [at the] perfect time,” Flowers said. “We can get our body more ready for the playoffs and get our body more ready for the last four games and go on a run.”

Harbaugh wants to continue developing the team over the final weeks of the season and keep other teams off-balanced. 

“Everything that has to do with the next four weeks and past, that is what we’re looking at, in terms of finding ways to make plays, score points [and] get stops,” Harbaugh said. “All of the different things we can do to keep people off-balanced, create problems for our opponents, put our players in the position to make plays – those are the things that we’re trying to find [and] turn over every stone along those lines and see what we can come up with, and that’s what we did.”