Wide receiver Tee Higgins sees "1K" every day. The Cincinnati Bengals' 2020 second-round pick wrote it on his mirror at home.
"That motivated me to go out there and work," Higgins said.
Of course, 1K stands for 1,000. That's the number of receiving yards Higgins hopes to post in 2021.
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Entering the final game of the Bengals' 2020 campaign, Higgins needed 92 receiving yards to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He also needed just one catch to pass Cris Collinsworth for the most receptions by a rookie in Bengals' history.
Higgins fell short of both.
With 7:22 to play in the first quarter of Cincinnati's 2020 season finale against the Baltimore Ravens at Paul Brown Stadium, Higgins caught a slant and raced 41 yards before falling to the turf.
Higgins screamed in pain as his game and season came to a screeching halt with a left hamstring injury.
To add insult to that injury, the play didn't count. It was called back due to a holding penalty.
“As we all know, the last game of the season didn’t end well for me," Higgins said Thursday before the start of Cincinnati's second day of training camp. "I got that hamstring injury. So my mindset was the first month or so to just chill, sit back and relax. And then I got into the weight room. That was my biggest thing, just to be stronger from the legs up. I finally got on the field after my hamstring healed up and I just felt better than ever.”
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With a renewed energy and a reshaped body, Higgins is now eying that 1,000-yard season that eluded him his rookie year.
“I have my goals in the mirror right now," he said. "Obviously, I want to be a Pro Bowler, I want to go for 1,000 (receiving yards) this year and just get to the playoffs. At the end of the day, that’s the main goal."
The Bengals, who finished 4-11-1 last season, good for last place in the AFC North, are looking to clinch their first playoff berth since 2015. Cincinnati finished 12-4 that year.
Though every team is optimistic at the start of training camp, the Bengals are especially hopeful thanks to a healthy Joe Burrow back under center and a receiving corps that has the potential to be among the best in the NFL.
Higgins, Tyler Boyd and 2021 first-round pick Ja'Marr Chase form a trio of receiving weapons for Burrow that could rival the record-setting group Burrow had during his 2019 Heisman Trophy- and national championship-winning season at LSU.
Higgins is already excited about the possibilities.
“It’s a lot of fun. Just playing the game is fun, but those guys make it even better," he said. "We learn from each other. It’s things that I do that Ja’Marr and Tyler don’t. It’s things that they do that I don’t. We just learn. I can put what Ja’Marr does and put it in my game and use it, certain techniques. It’s just fun to learn from those guys and it’s a blast playing with them.
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“Yesterday, before practice, we looked at each other and we were just like, ‘We gotta go out there and ball. This is our team. We gotta go out there and produce for our team. They count on us just like we count on them. We gotta go out there and just do our job.'”
Their job right now is to gel.
Higgins dedicated himself to getting stronger this offseason, while Chase has already shown in practice why the Bengals elected to draft him with the fifth overall pick in April and reunite him with Burrow, his former college quarterback. Boyd is coming off of his third straight season with at least 75 catches and 800 receiving yards.
The three, along with running back Joe Mixon, could create matchup nightmares this fall. For now, they have to figure out how to get past safety Jessie Bates III.
"Yeah, there's always gonna be some (expletive)-talking a little bit between Joe Mix(on), obviously," Bates said Thursday. "I think he talks the most, just if they catch a 5-yard out. It's kind of hard to dictate that right now because we can't put hands-on and stuff. As camp evolves, I think we'll hold each other accountable on both sides. I talk to Joe (Burrow) in the locker room just like any DB. So just being able to have that open conversation about what I'm looking at, what he's looking at, I think it will all help us.
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