With Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins listed as doubtful with a quad issue for Sunday’s game (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Fox 19) against the Raiders at Paycor Stadium, the estimable skills of wide receivers coach Troy Walters look like they’ll be on display again.
Higgins is flirting with missing his fourth game of the season, yet three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase continues to lead the NFL in receiving yards with 647. Second-year wide receiver Andrei Iosivas has contributed three touchdowns, and rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton’s pair of catches are among the biggest plays of the year for 47 and 41 yards.
“Troy’s the best,” said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor after Friday’s practice of his old Texas A&M office buddy when they broke into coaching 15 years ago. “I would follow him to the end of the earth. He’d be a great head coach. That’s the effect he has not only on the receivers, but coaches and players elsewhere.
“I’ll put him up against anybody in this league. Who he is as a technician and being a former player. To me, the man that Troy is is what I appreciate the most.”
With Higgins probably down and Charlie Jones (groin) questionable Sunday, all eyes are on Walters’ work with the third-round pick Burton. Burton is coming off a career-high 24 snaps and is probably looking at more than that despite playing only 25 all year before he snagged a 41-yarder last Sunday on one of his patented go balls down the sideline.
“One thing he does is stay on me every day,” Burton said of Walters after Thursday’s practice. “Every day he lets me know what the real standard is of playing receiver here. Even when I do something good, he doesn’t praise me. He says, do it again. He’s done a great job with that.”
Walters has gotten plenty out of rookie receivers here. As the Bengals assistant wide receivers coach in 2020, Walters helped Higgins grab 908 yards, the 12th most by a rookie receiver in…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News…