CINCINNATI -- Tee Higgins knew what Saturday night represented for him and the Cincinnati Bengals.
With his contract up after this season, the wide receiver understood that the game against the Denver Broncos could have been his final home game with the team that drafted him. He also knew that Cincinnati needed to win in order to keep its playoff hopes alive.
On top of all of that, Higgins was dealing with an ankle and knee injury. So at the beginning of the week, Higgins sent coach Zac Taylor a text message with a brief message during a team meeting that set the tone for the rest of the week: "I'm playing.