As the Bengals pivot into the 2026 season, star wideout Tee Higgins and breakout running back Chase Brown offered a clear window into the team\u2019s mindset during a recent exclusive interview with us at Cincy Jungle and The Orange and Black Insider Bengals podcast.<\/p>\n
We asked the duo, who kindly joined us via Bounty Paper Towels, ahead of Super Bowl LV, about the mindset of this team going into 2026 following three straight seasons of missing the playoffs. Pissed? Excited? Down in the dumps?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I definitely think it will be more on the \u2018hyper-focused\u2019 side, you know, other than pissed off,\u201d said Higgins\u2014 a sentiment that reflects a locker room focused not just on talent but on togetherness. \u201cObviously, we\u2019re pretty upset that we haven\u2019t made the playoffs in a long time, but I think it\u2019s more hyper-focused because most of the guys on the offensive side of the ball are coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Higgins and fellow star receiver Ja\u2019Marr Chase both signed long-term deals to stay in Cincinnati last offseason, as did Mike Gesicki. This followed Joe Burrow\u2019s mega-extension back in the 2023 offseason, while much of the 2025 starting offensive linemen are also under contract in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, obviously, we need to lock back in and keep doing what we\u2019ve been doing the past three years and put it together as a whole, as a team,\u201d Higgins continued. \u201cJust like how if you have special teams, offense and defense working together\u2014you need all of that\u2026as long as we do that, I think we\u2019ll be okay and make that run late in the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cincinnati looked to be on the precipice of creating a dynasty back in 2021-2022. However, a lethal combination of injuries to key players, roster attrition, some draft misses, and just plain bad luck has seen them miss out on the postseason from 2023 to 2025.<\/p>\n
Brown echoed the same confidence, adding, \u201cWe\u2019ll be motivated, man,\u201d reinforcing the belief that Cincinnati\u2019s core players aren\u2019t just hopeful \u2014 they\u2019re intentional about improvement and execution as the new campaign approaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had two years where our playoff hopes haven\u2019t been in our control, so that\u2019s definitely a focus this coming season is being in control, start fast and winning those games that matter\u2014which is every single one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown also touched on those tight, one-score games that have doomed the Bengals the past two seasons as a key to a turnaround in 2026. He feels the Bengals are \u201ccapable of winning those tight games\u201d, it\u2019s just a matter of getting on the right side of those squeakers and racking up the wins.<\/p>\n
Together, Higgins and Brown paint a picture of a Bengals squad that isn\u2019t content with past successes or failures, but instead driven by a collective commitment to growth and competitiveness in a stacked AFC North. Of course, the division will have a much different look this year with three new head coaches (Mike McCarthy in Pittsburgh, Todd Monken in Cleveland, and Jesse Minter in Baltimore, respectively), but the path to the playoffs will undoubtedly be via high success in the division.<\/p>\n
Higgins was a late Pro Bowl addition this week, which is well-deserved, given his near-1,000-yard season and 11 touchdown grabs. Brown was a valuable multidimensional weapon who should be in line for an offseason extension with the team, like Higgins and Chase last year.<\/p>\n
Regardless, fans should take note: When both offensive weapons talk about unity and purpose this early, it suggests Cincinnati\u2019s mentality is as formidable as its roster. It now comes down to putting these words into action.<\/p>\n
Our thanks to Tee Higgins, Chase Brown, and the fine folks with Bounty Paper Towels. The Super Bowl is about watching the big game with family and friends, as well as some great food, and Bounty is the perfect Wingman for your party.<\/p>\n
Whether you\u2019re serving sauced wings, pizza, or other great foods that could leave a mess, have plenty of Bounty on hand at the party! After all, it is \u201cThe quilted, quicker, picker-upper\u201d!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Bengals pivot into the 2026 season, star wideout Tee Higgins and breakout running back Chase Brown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,27657,1561,2296,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-716659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-bengals","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","11":"tag-cincinnati-bengals-interviews","12":"tag-cincinnati-bengals-news","13":"tag-cincinnatibengals","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115984446603663472","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}